Avenger  Book 2: Team Rocket Strikes Back
by BenRG
Summary: As Ash and the heroic Team Thunderbolt battle the evil of Team Rocket, they must face betrayal and disaster on the road to destiny.  STORY COMPLETED!
1. The Sign of the Thunderbolt

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PoKéMoN

Avenger - by Ben Russell-Gough

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Legal Disclaimer

Pokémon, the Pocket Monsters and their human friends and enemies are all the sole copyright and trademark property of Nintendo Entertainment, Game Freak Software and 4 Kids Productions. No breach of any copyright or legal property is intended.

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Author's Notes

This is my first _Pokémon_ fic. I don't know all the monsters or all the moves. I base my story purely on what I've seen of the cartoon. I thank all the other Pokémon writers on this board for providing plenty of inspiration. Special thanks to Charles "RocketBoy" Reilly, Wind, Joshua Falken, Chuchino and Catalina Storm for their comments, advice and encouragement.

Woo! After the negative darkness and anger of 'Sow the Wind…' I am ready to get back to my story. Be warned however, that just like Episode V of _Star Wars_, this Book is not a happy one. As RocketBoy pointed out to me, any fight against an organisation the size and strength of Team Rocket must have some distinctly bad patches. All together now: "To unite all peoples of our nation…"

Excuse me if this part is a bit slow-paced. Unfortunately (as you can see below) I've added a whole raft of new secondary characters. I have decided, therefore, to write a "How the Gang Got Together" part just to explain what the hell is happening.

Text in [squared-off brackets] indicates the translation of a Pokémon's language into English.

Text in _Italics_ but not in quotes indicates thoughts or psychic communication.

Ages: Ash is 17; Misty has just turned 19; Brock is 25; Jessie and James are both 24; Richie is 17; Duplicia is 18; Sabrina is 20; Lance is 16; Joy is 29.

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Censor: R (Equivalent to UK '15' Certificate)

Content Warning: Swearing, violence and mature topics

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Book 2 – Team Rocket Strikes Back

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What has gone before…

Ash Ketchum was a man on the verge of realising his dreams. After winning the Pokémon League Supreme Championship, he was well on the way of realising his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master. Then the cold hand of destiny intruded.

After learning that Giovanni di Rocketti, the mysterious leader of the terrorist group Team Rocket, was his father, he was confronted with his responsibility to stop Team Rocket's criminal rampage. Ash hesitated, but as he fought with his destiny, forces around him pushed him on a path he truly did not wish to pursue.

Team Rocket began to strike. First they slew Lord and Lady Viridian, the parents of one of their own Agents, James Weston. Grief-stricken, James, along with his partners Jessie and Meowth, quit and swore revenge. Then the same Team Rocket force murdered Ash's close friend Tracey Sketchitt. Realising that he could not avoid the path set before him, Ash led his four friends, Misty, Brock, Jessie and James on an attack against a Team Rocket base near Viridian City. The great crusade against the darkness had begun.

In his fight, just three things sustain Ash. First is his knowledge that what he is doing is _right_. Team Rocket _must_ be stopped or countless innocents will suffer. Secondly there is Misty. Once she was just an annoying girl, but in the seven years of their journeys together, they had become closer. They are closer than friends are and closer than siblings. As lovers and soul mates they can face the world. Finally there is his uncanny ability as a Pokémon Trainer. Ash understands Pokémon better than anyone else, and can guide them in battle better than any other Trainer. The only one to share this gift is his father, and it is a factor that must, inevitably, bring them into a final conflict from which only one will return.

Now, six months after his first attack, Ash is leading a small but dedicated band against Team Rocket. However, even as they continue to strike, the forces of darkness are preparing to strike back…

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And now the continuation…

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Chapter 1 – The Sign of the Thunderbolt

"Put me down! Put me down for God's sake! You can't do this!"

"Stop struggling, ma'am. If you don't stay still, Venusaur might drop you and I don't want you hurt."

Reacting to the genuine concern in the voice from near her right ear, Joy Burke, the Head Nurse of the Pewter City Pokémon Centre stopped struggling against the vine whips that bound her arms to her side and held her over three metres off the ground. _And to think today seemed so beautiful when it began_, she thought in a resigned tone of voice.

***

It was a beautiful day in the foothills of the Icy Mountains where Pewter City nestled in its granite glory. Of course, today was a day of excitement in the usually quiet old industrial city. Everyone had either seen or heard the battle in the forest during the night. A well-equipped vigilante force had attacked and destroyed a hidden facility, rumoured to be a Team Rocket field command post, near the city. Security Police forces from as far away as Viridian City had descended on the area.

Joy had just left her house in the outskirts of town to walk to the Pokémon Centre for the morning shift. An empathic sort, she could _feel_ the quality of fear and pain in the air from the battle. She hoped no one had been seriously hurt. 

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How had it come to this? She asked herself. Only six months ago, the island continent of Indigo was a fairly peaceful place. Then, almost without warning, someone had started a crusade against Team Rocket, the shadowy terrorist organisation that had been behind so many thefts of trained Pokémon and other terrible crimes. Now it was they who were the victims. In the last six months, nearly fifty of their hidden bases throughout Indigo, Johto and the nearby Orange Archipelago had been overwhelmed and destroyed. Tens of thousands of their agents were in prison. Everyone was wondering who was behind the mysterious symbol of two vertical lightning bolts through a circle. Who was Team Thunderbolt? The Security Police were helpless, and were reduced to trawling through the wreckage for clues that they knew would not be there. _This poor region has become a war zone_, Joy reflected. _What next?_

As Joy set out to work, for the first time in nine years, she thought about the over-intense son of the City's Gym Leader. He was just the sort of guy who would go off on a mad rampage, she decided. Suddenly, there was a voice behind her. "Nurse Joy?" The voice was young, just on the edge of maturity, with a slightly gravelly undertone.

"Yes?" she replied, turning to face the person who spoke. The first thing she saw, however, was a Venusaur looking at her in a determined way. 

A Leech Seed arced through the air with pinpoint accuracy and struck her on the forehead. There was a hum of ozone and she felt a wave of weakness, nausea and fever race through her body. As the ground raced up to meet her, she heard the voice again, this time modulated by remorse and regret. "I'm sorry about this, Nurse Joy, but my needs exceed my means."

***

Now here she was, bound and carried by the Venusaur with a bag over her head. Joy was seething mad, but right now she was a helpless prisoner. She would have to wait before doing anything.

"Nurse Joy?" the voice suddenly announced. "We have arrived. Venusaur is about to put you down, but I don't want you to run. You are in no danger, but if you try anything foolish or heroic, I will have you incapacitated again. Do you understand?"

Joy nodded, then realised he probably couldn't see that through the sack over her head. "Yes, I understand."

"Good. Venusaur, please put her down gently."

"Venusaur!"

Joy felt the ground hit her feet rather hard, making her stagger. The pressure of vine whips eased around her arms. As she rubbed them to restore circulation, the sack was whipped from over her head.

Joy blinked furiously in the sudden light. She was in the forest somewhere, in a campsite set up in a small clearing. In front of her stood a tall, thin and rather mournful man with blue-black hair and a statuesque red-haired woman who wore a look of disdain. Both wore dark, subdued clothing. "Is this her?" the man asked.

"How can you doubt it?" asked the voice that had been with Joy all this morning. "Hell, she even has the same hairdo as her cousins!"

"It's uniform actually," Joy snapped, self-consciously running her fingers around the looped braids of her long red hair. "I hate these braids. Where the hell am I?" She whirled to face her kidnapper. He was about her height with a round, kind face and chocolate-brown eyes filled with kindness and humour. A Raichu hung onto the back of his jacket, looking at her with interest. The man's black hair was an utter mess, but what caught her attention was his paramilitary-style dress. _I was wondering who was behind the attacks on Team Rocket_, Joy thought with a sinking certainty. _Now I am among them_.

"You are in a forest clearing less than ten miles from the city limits," he announced. "Feel free to run. Oh, but you don't know what direction you want to run in, do you?" Joy scowled at the young man, who grinned at her impishly. A few laughs echoed from around the site.

"Look, son," Joy snarled. "I don't know what this is about, but I'm not laughing."

"Of course not," the man replied, sobering up. He suddenly stuck out his right hand. "Ash Ketchum," he said. "My name." Joy recognised the name, of course. He was last year's Supreme Champion, and now the continent's most famous missing person. What was he doing out here? Filled with uncertainty, she shook his hand.

Joy looked around the campsite again. As she watched, a heavily built young man with dark hair, assisted by a Machamp, moving a fallen log to block the track that she was certain she had been brought down earlier. A tall, almost ethereal blonde-haired woman sat in front of a tent in a lotus position, mediating. Joy's jaw dropped open when she realised that the woman was hovering _six inches off of the ground_.

"You've already met James, Jessie, Lance and Sabrina," Ash said with another grin, pointing out each of his companions in turn. "Richie and Duplicia are off guarding the perimeter and Brock is off scavenging some supper."

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Brock? She thought. _Nah, just a coincidence._ Joy shook off the feeling of strangeness and turned to face Ketchum. "Well its' been nice meeting you and your gang," she said in a gentle tone. "Now, please tell me what you want."

Ash frowned slightly and jerked his chin for her to follow. As he led her into the tangled brush around the campsite, she didn't miss the fact that, while he had recalled his Venusaur, his Raichu remained out. It might be nothing, some Pokémon didn't like Pokéballs after all, but it might also be a threat. 

"I won't lie to you, Joy," Ash announced in a firm voice. "You will have already guessed that we were behind the destruction of Team Rocket's field base near Pewter City last night. Now we've been pretty lucky previously," Ash sighed and Joy noted the exhaustion and bitterness in his posture. "But this time our luck ran out. One of our Pokémon was seriously injured and we lack the skills to heal him. That is where you come in."

"Well I'm flattered that you thought I was good enough to help," Joy replied. "But there was no need to kidnap me for God's sake. Just bring him in to the Pokémon Centre and we can give him the best care available." Joy suddenly stopped. _Did I really just sound that naïve? _She asked herself. _Hello, Joy, anyone home? He's an outlaw vigilante. He's hardly going to march into a town that is now hip-deep in Security Police to have one of his Pokémon healed. _Ash looked at her, noting her discomfort and embarrassment with a kind smile.

"Don't worry," he said. "It took me a while to get used to this life. Why shouldn't you feel a little out of the loop?" Ash walked forward and parted the bushes ahead. Joy walked past and stopped dead at what she saw.

A Tentacruel, one of the largest she had ever seen, lay partly in and partly out of a lake. The huge jellyfish-like Pokémon had massive rips and cuts in its' tough leather-like bell. It was lying on its side, its' giant dark eyes dangerously dull. Someone had done a fair job of patching him up, but it was a sticking plaster on a compound fracture in the face of such serious injuries.

"Tenta-aa-aah!" the massive creature groaned.

"Jeez, Tentacruel, please try to hold on," replied a distressed feminine voice.

Ash immediately raced forward and into the shallows. "Misty, how is he?" he asked urgently.

A thin young woman with shoulder-length ginger-red hair rose up from behind the injured Pokémon. Her narrow, kindly face was streaked with tears and her blue-green eyes reflected an agonised empathic suffering. "Oh Ash, thank God you're back. I think…" the woman, Misty, sobbed and had to swallow. "I think we're going to loose him." She collapsed into Ash's arms. Ash hugged her and whispered some words of comfort.

The sight of the distress on the two Trainers' faces decided Joy, who was really a kindly sort. "No you're not," Joy immediately announced. Heedless that it would ruin her neat dress, she took off her heels and waded in besides Ash and Misty. "Do you have a full medikit?" she asked in a businesslike tone.

"Several," Ash said. He pointed out several open medical kits on the shoreline. Some, she noted, had the distinctive red 'R' of Team Rocket in place of the medical Red Cross.

"What happened to him?"

"A Team Rocket Scyther happened," Misty said, her voice rough with emotion. "We didn't realise until later, but one of the cuts severed a major nutrient vein in the core. He's been bleeding for almost six hours and we can't stop it. We've tried a few restore potions, but they just start leaking out after a few minutes… He… he keeps blacking out and its been getting harder to make him wake up… I… I…" Misty began to cry and Ash hugged her firmly.

Joy ducked under the huge animal's bell and looked at the damage. It was nasty all right. The damage was repairable, but Tentacruel was already almost dead. He would not survive surgery without something to maintain his energy levels. "Damn it, I need Chancey here," she muttered. Ash cleared his throat. Joy looked and saw that he was holding a Pokébelt in his hand. It was _her_ Pokébelt with her six Pokéballs. "Where did you get that?" she asked in an icy tone.

Ash had the grace to look uncomfortable. "Well, I figured you might have trained your Pokémon to help you. I… uh… took your pass card from your handbag and… uh… broke into the Treatment Centre to get it," Ash grinned uncomfortably and shrugged. "Sorry, but I couldn't just do nothing with Tentacruel so sick."

Joy tried to be annoyed, but found she couldn't. The kindness the two young people were showing and the amount of risk they were taking on behalf of Tentacruel were good marks in Joy's book. Besides, the theft showed a certain degree of forethought and planning, indicating that Ash had known what he had to do to get the best results. This wasn't just an ill thought-out stunt but a necessary risk by a group of desperate but fundamentally good people. "I'll forgive you," she announced in a regal tone. She looped her belt around her hips and pulled out a Pokéball with a medical caccaedeus emblem and tossed it forwards. "Go Chancey!"

The ball split open and her Chancey materialised on top of Tentacruel's bell. The ball closed and leapt back into her hand. Joy liked that part. Somehow, even though she loved her work as a healer, there was a part of her that longed to be a League Trainer.

"Now," Joy said as she considered what she needed to do. "Kindly get out of our way and let us get to work."

"No," Ash replied in a firm tone. Misty shook her head too. "We'll stay and help you."

"You'll only be in the way," Joy protested.

"Look Joy," Misty said sharply. "This isn't the Treatment Centre. You don't have your staff here to help you. We've done enough emergency care in the last six months to help you." The young woman shuddered and Ash hugged her before she continued in a quieter tone. "We probably know more about combat trauma in Pokémon that you do."

"Unfortunately," Ash added. 

Joy looked at the two determined Trainers and, reluctantly, realised they were right. _They sound soul-sick_, she realised, her natural compassion rising again. _What is so important that they have to keep on this crazy war even after suffering so much?_ "All right," she said. "Ash, I want you to get over by the medikits and give me what I need as soon as I ask. Misty, I'll give you a portable life-signs scanner. Tell me if Tentacruel's life-readings change suddenly. Okay?" The two young people nodded firmly and Joy sighed before continuing. "Then let's begin."

***

Joy lay back against a log, thankful for the foul-tasting military self-heating coffee that Richie had given her. 

The sun was just setting and the operation had been a success. _Pity about the clothes_, she thought in a tired way. She was wearing a leaf-green military jump suit that one of Ash's colleagues, a cheerful fawn-haired woman referred to as 'Duplicia' had produced from an apparently bottomless knapsack of disguises. She was wearing it because her street clothes were drying on a rock nearby.

One of the complications of the operation was that Joy had to cut into the super-sensitive core of Tentacruel's body, an area so vulnerable that it was usually completely protected by tentacles and the thick armoured bell. Although Tentacruel was sedated and incredibly weak, the touch of the laser scalpel against his thin hide made him thrash madly, throwing Joy and Misty straight into the water. It had taken the intervention of three of Ash's largest Pokémon to hold Tentacruel still so Joy could clamp his severed vein and repair the other damage caused by the deep wound caused by a Scyther's sword-like arms.

Somehow, the damage was repaired. Tentacruel's HP was up to 25% of maximum when Joy last checked and it was clear he would make it. Misty was effusive in her thanks, as was Ash. It was puzzling but both seemed to share an equal affection for the other's Pokémon. There was obviously a deep bond between them, despite their relative youth. For the second time today, Joy found herself thinking of Brock Slate. She angrily shook her head and removed such unprofitable thoughts from her mind.

She concentrated instead on Richie Yeager. When she first saw the young trainer, she was convinced that he was Ash's twin brother. As she continued to watch him, however, she saw the differences. His hair was a light brown shade and his eyes were coloured a deep, hypnotic blue. He was slimmer than Ash, without the other's heavy muscular build and, most importantly, his slurred accent indicated he was from Celadon City or some other part of the agricultural interior. Ash had the more precise American accent one expected from Viridian, Pallet or one of the other older settlements. Even so, the two men were still very alike. It was one of those 'only their mothers can tell them apart' situations. 

Misty, when asked, just laughed. She thought it was funny that they looked so alike. "A bit like you and your cousins," she announced, making Joy frown. She hated her resemblance to the other daughters of the vastly extended Mandeville family, all of whom seemed to end up in medicine. She had taken up the medical arts, not out of choice, but out of a certainty that it was somehow _expected_ that she join her cousins.

"Richie," she said quietly.

"Yo."

"What are you doing fighting a war? You are a good enough Trainer to fight in the Leagues."

Richie laughed. "And I have," he admitted. "But Team Rocket has been causing more and more trouble and _someone_ had to do something. When Ash formed his little group of adventurers, I was back home in Celadon. Then they came and levelled a Team Rocket base nearby. I recognised his style; no one is quite as original as he is. I sought him out and asked to join up." Richie shrugged. "We aren't friends, rather cheerful rivals if you like. But he had a dream of finally stopping Team Rocket's predation on ordinary Trainers. That decided me. I wanted in."

Richie stood up and stretched, disturbing his Pikachu, who he had already introduced as 'Sparky.' He settled the little electric mouse to his shoulder and walked over to sit besides Joy. "We've all got our reasons for being here," he explained. "Lance wants what I want: an end to Team Rocket's pillaging. He might look young, but he's already a Fighting-type Master. His Hitmonchan is the best trained I've ever seen. Duplicia… Well she's a weird one. I think she's just got this kooky attraction to heroic causes. She's actually a Ditto Master and a travelling entertainer, but she's also a brilliant infiltration expert and a deadly fighter. Sabrina…" Richie shook his head. "Sabrina is just about as weird as you can get. She's a psychic-type Master and a Gym Leader. I've heard stories about her that would make your hair turn white. She's a telepsychic in her own right and actually contacted Ash in a dream. She simply told him that it was her destiny to fight in this 'jihad' that Ash has started, her words, and teleported in with her Pokémon in the morning. She's got every psi-type in the book and then some." Richie leaned closer. "Don't spread it about, Joy, but she's got a Mew."

"A Mew!" she gasped. "I thought they were extinct centuries ago!"

"So did I," Richie said. "But she has one; a cute little critter really."

"What about Jessie and James?" Joy asked. "I'm sure I've seen their faces somewhere else, but I can't place them."

Richie grinned. "Working in a Pokémon Centre, you would have: on wanted posters." Richie seemed to enjoy the look of shock on Joy's face as he continued. "They used to be top agents of Team Rocket. They have lied, stolen and terrorised for almost a decade in service to Team Rocket."

"What the hell are they doing working with Ash?" Joy asked. "Is it some kind of trap?"

Richie shook his head. "It's a long story, but to cut it short: About six months ago James' family were slaughtered by Team Rocket during one of their little loot & pillage raids. Because of that Jessie and James finally figured out that Team Rocket had basically been lying to them and using them from day one. They quit, joined up with Ash, who had been exchanging lumps with them for seven years, and got down to a little revenge."

"Oh my God," Joy whispered. Now she understood the terrifying blank emptiness in James' green eyes and the perpetual worry in Jessie's posture. They were marked people, and living with a death mark was a difficult thing.

"As for Ash and Misty?" Richie continued, almost to himself. "Well, Ash doesn't talk about it a lot. I know Team Rocket murdered a buddy of his, but there is something deeper at work. He acts as if fighting Team Rocket is his duty or something. I can tell he hates it, but still he fights. Misty is the other half of his soul, so where he goes, she goes." Joy nodded; she had seen the connection between those two herself. "Brock is their closest friend bar none. He loves them as a brother and he would never, ever abandon them to fight alone."

"Brock?" Joy said, suddenly sounding worried. She had heard the name mentioned in the camp before, and needed proof that this _wasn't_ the Brock she was thinking of. "Tell me about him. What is he like?"

Richie looked surprised at the sudden concern in her tone. "Here he is now," he said, pointing to the trail leading into the clearing.

"Okay, folks, I'm back," a cheerful voice announced. "I hope no one minds doing a little skinning first, though, I'm afraid there was no way I could get close to the shops in the town with all the SPs running around."

Joy looked up and saw the tall black-haired oriental man with the khaki pocket vest, accompanied by a Ninetails and carrying a stick with a half dozen rabbits hanging from it. She looked and was instantly nine years into the past. He was 16 and on a hormone high. She was 19, fresh out of college and lonely. She had been flattered at the young man's attentions. They had met, become involved and ended up sleeping with each other and… breaking each other's hearts clean in two.

"Brock Slate you fucking bastard!" she screamed, launching herself towards him. "I've got a bucket full of pain I owe you, you shit!"

Brock froze at the sudden unexpected attack, but seeing Joy broke him out of his paralysis. "Joy Burke… You… whore! If you want trouble you've come to the right place! Ninetails, Ember attack!"

Joy somehow stumbled forwards, dropping below the sphere of burning phosphorous that Brock's Ninetails vomited at her. She staggered to her feet and shoulder-charged him, knocking him back. She managed to get her hands around his throat before he slapped her arms away from him and put her to the ground with a solid left hook. He was about to jump on her when she kicked him in the groin. Brock folded with a groan, making Joy grin in pleasure. 

Joy fastened her hands around his throat and began to squeeze. Suddenly his hands were at her throat and she was having a hard time breathing. A light-flecked blackness began to close in on her field of vision, but she was too boiling mad to notice. Both ignored the shouts from around them.

"Brock, don't!" That was Misty.

"Get off of him you crazy bitch!" Lance Hook… perhaps.

"Brock, let her go!" an authoritative voice shouted, Ash. "Joy, back off right now!"

Hands grabbed Joy's shoulders and pulled, but she resisted, just as she could see Brock resisting Richie and Sabrina's attempts to pull him away. "Let go," That was Ash, all right. He was right between them, looking at them with an anger that would intimidate a demon. When neither combatant complied with his order, he scowled dangerously. "Okay, if you two children want pain, I can arrange that. Back off, people." The others all released their holds and stood back. "Raichu, Thundershock."

"Rai-CHU-ai-rai-rai, Rai-ai," [One knockdown special coming up, Ash,] Raichu responded, electricity sparkling around his cheek pads.

The next thing Joy experienced was an agonising pain that made her whole body go stiff and unresponsive. Her hands spasmed open and her lungs refused to work. She heard Brock make a sound like a gargling choke, before the hand of pain released her. Joy hit the ground, her new jump suit smouldering with electrical burns.

Joy rolled over and enjoyed being miserably sick for a moment. She looked over her shoulder to see Ash helping a smouldering Brock to his feet. Brock lunged towards her but Ash stopped him with a look. "I can tie you to a tree trunk if you don't want to calm down, Brock," Ash warned him. Brock scowled for a moment, then shook his head and stormed off.

Joy staggered to her feet with Misty and Duplicia's help. "Alright," Ash snapped. "Do you want to tell me what the hell that was all about?"

"Ask Brock," Joy rasped. She turned and stormed away from the campsite.

***

"Do you want to talk about it, Brock-o?" Ash asked.

Brock was sitting down by a tree, grooming Ninetails, something he always did to calm himself when he was _really_ mad. "It's none of your business, Ash," Brock snarled.

"But I think it is," Ash said, squatting down opposite his old friend. "Christ, Brock, you two were ready to kill each other with your bare hands… you ordered Ninetails to use an attack that would have permanently maimed her if Togepi hadn't kinetically pulled her feet from under her."

"It is what she deserves for what she did to me," Brock continued darkly.

"Don't do this to me, man," Ash warned. "Don't succumb to hate. Bad enough that I have to hunt my own father, I don't want you added to the list."

Brock took in Ash's genuinely worried expression and relaxed slightly with a groan. "We did a pretty good job on each other, you know," he said. "Have you ever wondered why all the Nurse Joys have such an effect on me?"

Ash grinned. "Me, I always thought it was because you were pathetic," he offered with a dry laugh.

Brock managed to smile in return. "She was the first, Ash: My first Nurse Joy and my first lover. Nine years ago it was. I was a teenager, just qualified to be my dad's assistant at the Gym. She had just been assigned to the Pokémon Centre as a junior nurse. What can I say? I've always been a sucker for red-heads." Brock shook his head. "We were lovers. It was quite a show Ash: Passionate, careless and spontaneous. But then things went horribly wrong and we ended up breaking each other's hearts. She killed a little part of me. The things I said when I found out…" He was crying, Ash realised with a start. Brock, the stalwart, the strong one, was crying with grief. Ash put his hand on Brock's shoulder as he lowered his head. "I said things to her that were horrible, venomous lies… but I said them anyway. I thought she had ruined my life, so I ruined hers." Brock gasped in a breath. "God I did things to her that were unforgivable. I said things… treated her like property rather than a person… I had no right to hurt her like that." Brock took a moment to get control of himself. Ash stood back, respecting his friend's feelings. "Why is she here anyway?" Brock managed to ask after a moment.

"I needed a full medic to help Tentacruel," Ash explained. "Pewter was the nearest Pokémon Centre to hand. I'm sorry, I should have asked."

"You weren't to know," Brock said kindly. "Besides, Joy is the best you could have found. What she does not know about Pokémon medicine isn't worth the knowing. Tentacruel is fine, isn't he?"

"She put him back together," Ash confirmed. "It was a miracle really."

"Miracles are Joy's business," Brock replied with a game smile. "They always have been."

***

Joy was sitting against a tree, crying her heart out. The bruises on her throat had settled down to just a dull throb now, and she couldn't even feel the electrical burns any more. What she could feel was her broken heart. She didn't look up when someone joined her. She guessed it was Misty.

"I brought you some burn cream," Misty said in a businesslike tone. "I've needed to fix myself up after Raichu got mad more than once, so I know the feeling." Joy managed a smile of thanks as she accepted the tube of cream from the young woman. "Do you want to talk about it?" Misty asked.

Joy shrugged. "It…" she coughed as she choked on a sob. "It's an ugly story, Misty. You don't want to hear it. No one comes out particularly well."

"Maybe I do want to hear it," Misty contradicted. "Brock is one of the most gentle people I know, and you are a nurse, a _healer_, yet you were both ready to kill. What could happen that makes you ready to do that?"

Joy swallowed again and looked into Misty's kind, compassionate eyes. She managed to laugh a little. It was ironic; usually it was she listening to some young Trainer's heartbreak, not the other way around.

"Nine years ago, Brock and I were lovers," Joy said. "Oh it was wonderful Misty. He is so kind and loving. He made me feel so feminine and alive. He was full of dreams and ambitions to become a top Breeder. I wanted to be there, to help him fulfil his dreams…" Joy's eyes misted over as she remembered those far-off days. Then her voice hardened. "But we were careless. God, I make it sound like we spilled a bottle of juice or something…" Another swallow. "He was young and on hormone power, but I knew better and should have warned him, but I guess I have always enjoyed taking dumb risks. I became pregnant with his child…"

"Brock has… a child?" Misty asked in surprise.

Joy began to cry, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. "It wasn't his fault Misty," Joy insisted. "Like I say, he was young and wasn't thinking straight. He found out, of course, he is just too observant to miss stuff like that." Joy hid her face in her hands before continuing. "He wanted to marry me. He said that he would give up everything to be with me and care for our children…" Joy coughed and had to pause before continuing. "I couldn't let him do that, Misty. I couldn't let him throw away his dreams because I was too wrapped up in having a lover to take the proper precautions. So… so I had an abortion…" Joy began to cry out loud now. "Oh God… I murdered our baby… I felt like shit… I still do… Just because I loved him."

Misty sat besides Joy and hugged the weeping woman to her. With a vague feeling of prescient dread, she knew what was coming next.

"Brock… was furious," Joy said after weeping for long minutes. "He called me things… names… horrible things…" Joy shook her head. "But what hurt the most was he was only saying what I felt about myself too. We had a fight…" Joy sobbed again. "He _hit _me… I called him names too. I turned on him and said things about him that I knew would hurt him… He started playing these hurtful pranks, trying to make me miserable… I… Oh god I am such a whore… I seduced his father and slept with him… tried to get myself pregnant by him because I knew that would hurt Brock more than anything else."

Misty hugged the other woman again, feeling the utter emptiness in Joy's soul. Thank God she had never experienced hurt like this. "Easy, Joy," Misty counselled. "Just let it all out."

"Before I succeeded in my plans, Flint suddenly left Pewter City without so much as a word of explanation to either of us," Joy said. "Brock blamed me… hell _I_ blamed me. It wasn't until years later we both learnt that Flint wanted to become a League Trainer. I was convinced that I had broken his heart the way I had broken Brock's. I…" Joy managed a shaky look into Misty's eyes. "I threw myself from the top of the Boulder Gym… all for effect, cry from the heart and all that…" She shook her head. "Would you believe that it was Brock's Zubat that caught me as I fell? Brock just looked at me, recalled Zubat and walked away from me. The… disdain in his eyes… As he walked away, he took my soul with him. I have never loved or even thought of loving since." Joy finally stopped crying and straightened up, wiping her red eyes in an angry way. "So, Misty, there you have it. Brock managed to destroy my soul, but not after I had maimed his beyond all recognition. Ash shouldn't have broken us up. He would have done us a favour, letting Brock kill me."

"No he wouldn't have," Misty insisted. She shook her head and continued in her usual forthright way. "God, Joy, you are so selfish, going on a and on about your pain. Brock hasn't lost his soul and neither have you. You hurt each other, yes. But if Brock is angry, it is mostly at himself for letting you hurt yourself. I know him. He is the kindest man alive and I can see his pain when he so much as looks at you." Misty stood up and thrust her hands into the pockets of her khaki pants. "If you want advice, Nurse Joy, I would try to make some kind of peace with Brock. It is time for you to stop obsessing about what happened a decade ago. You both need to move on after all this time." Joy watched in some surprise as Misty walked off. Then she sighed and banged her head against the tree trunk, trying to think.

***

"So ends the tale of Brock and Joy," Brock announced. Ninetails looked up at him in worry and licked his hand in affection. Brock smiled grimly and tickled her between her ears. "I treated a wonderful, kind woman practically as if she were my private whore. I got her pregnant and expected her to drop her life to fulfil my private romantic fantasies. I broke her heart and dared to interfere when she tried to start a relationship with my father. Everything I did was to hurt her." Brock sighed and leaned back. "It would have been justice if she had throttled me out there. You should have left her to finish the job. God knows I owe her that much."

Ash shook his head in disbelief. "You talk so much shit. You know that, don't you Brock?" he said in a surprisingly tender tone. "What is it with people who have difficult emotional relationships," Ash asked, his voice getting louder with anger, "that it has to be _their_ fault when things go a strange shape? Remember that you are talking to the expert here, Brock. When I was around 13 or 14, I almost topped myself more than once because I figured Misty would be better off with me dead." This came as a shock to Brock, who stared at his young friend in worry.

"I tell you what you are going to do," Ash said. "You are going out there _right now_ and you are going to apologise to Joy, completely and honestly. And she is going to apologise to you. And if you don't, damn it, I will have BJ use String Shot to hang you both from a tree limb until you do. Are we clear on this?"

"Ash it isn't that simple…" Brock protested as Ash stood up and stormed off.

"Save it for the shrinks, I don't care," Ash responded in a harsh tone. "I'll give you five minutes to rehearse, then I'm sending Quilava in to flush you out."

***

"Are you _sure_ this is a good idea, Ash?" Misty asked, her face showing worry.

"Good?" Ash asked. "No, but necessary, yes. The two of them have been poisoning their lives for the last decade over this, and I don't want it to carry on. It is the least we owe Brock, and Joy needs our help. Next time, there won't be a Zubat to catch her." He shrugged and smiled at her. "We formed this little crusading band to help people, didn't we?"

"My hero," Misty responded, shaking her head. "There are literally millions of ways this can go wrong."

"Ten dollars says she kills Brock on sight," James added.

"This isn't a joke, James," Jessie snapped.

James grinned. "Isn't it, my rose? I'm laughing hysterically here." Jessie snorted in disgust and Meowth sniggered nastily behind his paw.

"I'll take that bet," Ash announced. He spat in his hand and clasped hands with the former Team Rocket terrorist. He would pay for this from Misty, he knew, but it was worth it to have one up on James.

Joy stood in the centre of the clearing, her body language indicating that she would rather be somewhere else, _anywhere_ else. After a moment, Brock walked out of the woods and stood just outside of punching range. He shot Ash a desperate look. To either side of the erstwhile lovers, Lance's Machamp and Ash's Graveler stood, watching the two humans closely. Between them, these two Pokémon could easily separate even the most determined of combatants. It might cost said combatants the use of some of their limbs but, hey, _c'est la guerre_.

"I sense no increase of hostility yet," Sabrina reported to Ash, grinning like a wicked witch, something that Ash secretly suspected she _was_.

"Um… Joy…" Brock finally said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah, Brock?" Joy replied, trying to sound casual, but failing

"Um… look, I should have said this a long time ago," Brock said. "Those things I said and did. I was wrong, God how I was wrong. I had no right to ask you to give up your life to bear my child and I had no right to decide who you slept with or didn't. I'm sorry. I am so very, very sorry. If I could take it all back and stop it from ever happening, I would."

Joy looked horrified. "Why are you blaming yourself?" She asked. "Brock it was my fault. I was acting like a stupid, spiteful little cow. You can't blame yourself. I am the one who owes you an apology." Joy's voice began to break into sobs. "I shouldn't have tried to hurt you the way I did… and I shouldn't have killed our baby. I'm sorry and I always will be sorry."

Jessie gasped off to one side. Ash took a quick look at her horrified expression. Of course, she hadn't even heard the story yet.

Brock's eyes filled with tears. "But I hurt you so badly, Joy. I said things, did things…" He straightened up and looked her in the eye. "Look, I can't ever really make up for what I did, but I can say this. I bitterly regret everything that happened between us, except at the beginning. That was the most wonderful time of my life, and I thank you for letting me share you."

"Oh Brock," Joy said, smiling in a silly way. "I was always yours body and soul. You made a homely little girl back from medical school feel so good about herself. I am sorry that I broke your heart, and I am sorry for all the trouble I caused you and your family. I have always felt that I was wrong… evil… to do that. Please only remember the good times if you can. The bad times are my burden alone."

Brock suddenly stepped forward and held Joy's shoulders in an automatic gesture of compassion. Ash winced and waited for the first blow, but, to his surprise, nothing happened. "No, damn it," Brock shouted. "You are _not_ going to torture yourself about this. I know my own responsibilities and failings and those are my burden alone, _mine_. You are free, Joy. You always have been. I am the one who has to answer for what happened. Just pity Brock Slate, 'who loved not wisely but well.'"

"Shakespeare?" Joy asked with a slight smile.

Brock grinned back. "_Othello_, Act 5, scene 1," he confirmed. "I always felt it fitted us better than _Romeo and Juliet_."

Joy laughed. "You are so weird," she announced. She shook her head. "I could never stay mad at you in my heart. I want it over, Brock. I want to be free and I want _you _to be free." She looked at him and continued in a firm voice. "It is over. What is done is done and we must move on. I don't want the good things we shared poisoned forever."

Brock raised his chin and looked Joy in the eye. "The past is the past," Brock replied. "It is dead and gone. I would be glad to have you as a friend, Joy, if you can accept me. I want to remember our first time without tears."

"I will always remember with tears," Joy contradicted. "Only they are tears of joy. I loved you so very much, Brock. It was a good time." She was crying, Ash noticed. Brock, with an air of daring, reached out and wiped the tears away. She managed a laugh. "I would be happy to be your friend," she confirmed. "Besides, I am sure you have managed to score with one of my cousins by now."

"Oh," Brock said, his face flaming with embarrassment. "You know about that, do you?"

"How could I not know?" Joy asked, her eyes twinkling with mirth. "There is a fax with your face on it that circulates all the Pokémon Centres in the world saying: 'Nurses beware. This man is _Pathetic_.'"

"I bet you kept mine in a special place," Brock suggested, waggling his eyebrows. "Maybe blown up to life-size with a massive kiss on the face?"

"Actually I used it as a dartboard," Joy said tartly. Brock frowned with an angry expression. 

__

Uh oh, Ash thought. He stepped forward. "Alright," he said a little _too_ loudly. "You've made up and made nice. Now, I think we should get on with deciding what happens next."

"Actually, I think your cousins were mostly a rebound thing," Brock told Joy in a snide voice. "It wasn't the same, though."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, they were _much_ too nice to be anything like you!"

Misty stepped forward too, fearing an explosion any second. "Graveler, could you separate them please?" she asked.

Graveler floated forwards as Joy replied with some venom. "Nicer?" she spluttered. "My God, Brock, they are _pathetic_. They are worse than you are, all full of light, cheer and sucrose! I can't see what _anyone_ could see in them. I need an insulin booster every time I meet one!" Neither resisted as Graveler separated them and held them at arm's length.

"You know, Joy, that is your biggest problem," Brock said firmly. "You have _never_ seen how anyone could choose to live a life differently from you." Joy frowned, but didn't reply. "They were so like you, physically anyway," Brock continued, "that I could tell myself it _was _you."

"Aww, how cute," Duplicia said with a giggle. Ash impaled her with a glare and she subsided.

"Really?" Joy said in some surprise.

"Yep, that and I was hoping that if I scored with one of them, it might make me forget it wasn't you," Brock added with a waggle of his eyebrows.

"That was the only reason? You wanted another tumble and they… looked like me enough to…" Joy started spluttering. "My God, that's pathetic… I… I… Ugh!" Joy turned and stormed off, her face twisted with disgust.

"Hey, where are you going?" Brock shouted around Graveler at her retreating back. Misty's eyes were suspiciously bright and even Sabrina was trying to hold down a laugh. Brock appealed to the only other member of the gang who was near his age. "James," he asked. "What the hell did I do wrong?"

"Don't ask me," James replied. "I don't know _anything_ about women. They are as big a mystery to me as Ash's Legendary Pokémon."

"A mystery?" Jessie asked, outraged. "That is _not_ what you told me last night, James. In fact you seemed very skilled in knowing what I wanted both in words and actions. You told me I was the key to your soul and that 'our joining completed you…' ooh… Oh Christ I didn't mean to say that out loud." Jessie's face flamed with embarrassment and she fled with James in hot pursuit, shouting reassurances. 

It was the final straw. The other three women were all laughing their heads off. Sabrina was on the floor, holding her sides in pain and Duplicia was repeating bits of the preceding conversations and convulsing with laughter.

Ash, Richie and Lance looked around them at these events with a look of profound incomprehension and poor Brock looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him up.

***

"Primape, close up and give 'im a fast kick and chop!"

"Dynamic Punch, Geodude!"

Joy's Geodude turned into a whirling rocky bludgeon and knocked Ash's Primape flying across the clearing. "Woah!" Ash said. "Nice move Joy. I yield. Primape, return."

"Prime-ape-ape, Ri-ape!" [Cool move, Rocks!] Primape told Geodude before he disappeared and returned to his Pokéball.

Joy smiled in triumph as she recalled Geodude. She and Ash bowed to each other and she rejoined Misty, Jessie and James in kneeling in a semi-circle around Ash. She petted her Bulbasaur, who was still recovering from a toasting he received from Raichu and a soaking with Full-Restore Potion. "I am glad to meet your standards, Ash," she said.

"You do, and that surprises me," Ash replied. "I expected that you had 'adopted' some of the orphans that the uncaring creeps who claim to be Trainers dump at the Treatment Centre, but I hadn't expected you to keep training them. For a bunch of first-levels, they are pretty impressive." Joy shrugged modestly. "Now there is something you want to ask me," Ash added with a sly smile.

Joy opened her mouth in surprise. "How…?"

"Ash doesn't miss much," Misty explained, shooting a proud look at her lover. Ash smiled in response and bowed to her.

"So what is it you want to ask?" Ash asked. "You should talk to Raichu if you want to buy a 'Shock Brock' certificate. It only costs a bottle of premium tomato ketchup." He grinned and winked. "A 'Shock Ash' costs only half a bottle."

Joy giggled and took a moment to sober up before continuing. "The thing is that I want what Richie and Lance want," she told Ash. "I want Team Rocket to stop raiding Pokémon Centres and attacking Trainers. I want some kind of peace restored to our homes. The Security Police have spent decades doing nothing except making sympathetic noises." She looked Ash right in the eye. "Now someone is doing something about Team Rocket and I want a part of it. I want to join you Ash. You need a qualified Medic, and I hope I have proven to you that I can hold my own in a fight."

Ash nodded. His eyes narrowed as he considered the deceptively sisterly looking woman. "Do you know what you are asking of me, Joy Burke?" He asked. Joy opened her mouth to reply, but Ash rode over her. "This is not like any battle you have ever known, Joy. It is a war, without any quarter asked or given. It can only end with the destruction of Team Rocket or the destruction of this small band you see around you." Ash walked over and crouched right in front of Joy, looking her in the eye with an intimidating intensity. "If we succeed, we can go back to our lives. But if we fail, then we all face imprisonment, torture, rape, brainwashing, death or worse. Now, I will ask you again. Do you understand what you are asking of me?"

"I understand," Joy replied. "My father once told me that allowing an evil to go unchecked was as bad as being part of that evil. Now the chance has come to me, I can't turn my back on it. Whether it leads to the stars or two the abyss I must follow this path. So, Ash Ketchum, I am in. Whether this leads to victory or death of one form or another, I am in."

"So be it," Ash said, approval lighting his expression. He rose and stood back. Joy rose to her feet too and the two grasped each other's forearms. "I welcome you to this brotherhood of the hopeless, the insane and the simply heroic. I welcome you to Team Thunderbolt."

***

Next morning, the camp was packed away and the ten Trainers and their friends were ready to go. Ash was looking at an Ordinance Survey map of Indigo Island and talking to James. "So as I understand it," Ash said. "This base, somewhere towards the coast from Celadon City, is the home of Team Rocket's fleet for the Southern Sea."

"That's right," James replied. He traced out the Great Bay from Pallet around to Fuchsia City. "It is here, somewhere. Unfortunately, neither Jessie nor I know exactly where it is. Our base was always the HQ facility on Black Island."

Jessie nodded. "It was your father's greatest act of genius, creating this cell-like structure. It means one breach of security can't bring the whole organisation down."

Ash, who was considering the map, frowned and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It is clever," he admitted. "Foolproof, indeed, against a conventional enemy. But we aren't a conventional enemy."

"Have you got a plan, Ash?" Brock asked.

"Yeah," Ash replied with a wild smile. "It's nice and simple, Brock. Lance will appreciate it, I think," he added, winking at the Fighting Master.

"What is it?" Misty asked in some exasperation. She hated it when Ash got into his 'role' as a mysterious leader.

"Simple, we find someone who _does_ know, and get them to tell us." Ash looked around at his friends. "Didn't I say it was simple? Come on, let's get moving." Ash shouldered his pack, and with Raichu riding on his shoulders, he led Misty, Brock, Jessie, James, Lance, Sabrina, Richie, Duplicia and Joy… Team Thunderbolt, towards the Great Bay and the war they had sworn to fight.

__

To be continued…


	2. A Battle in the Long Crusade

**__**

PoKéMoN

Avenger - by Ben Russell-Gough

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Legal Disclaimer

Pokémon, the Pocket Monsters and their human friends and enemies are all the sole copyright and trademark property of Nintendo Entertainment, Game Freak Software and 4 Kids Productions. No breach of any copyright or legal property is intended.

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Author's Notes

This is my first _Pokémon_ fic. I don't know all the monsters or all the moves. I base my story purely on what I've seen of the cartoon. I thank all the other Pokémon writers on this board for providing plenty of inspiration. Special thanks to Charles "RocketBoy" Reilly, Wind, Joshua Falken, Chuchino and Catalina Storm for their comments, advice and encouragement.

Thanks for enduring my little transitional piece. Yes, RocketBoy, now we are getting back to the killing.

Text in [squared-off brackets] indicates the translation of a Pokémon's language into English.

Text in _Italics_ but not in quotes indicates thoughts or psychic communication.

Ages: Ash is 17; Misty has just turned 19; Brock is 25; Jessie and James are both 24; Richie is 17; Duplicia is 18; Sabrina is 20; Lance is 16; Joy is 29.

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Censor: R (Equivalent to UK '15' Certificate)

Content Warning: Swearing, violence and mature topics

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Book 2 – Team Rocket Strikes Back

__

What has gone before…

Ash Ketchum, Pokémon Trainer, Supreme Champion of the League and would-be Pokémon Master has been thrown by forces he cannot control into a terrifying war against the forces of Team Rocket, a mysterious terrorist organisation run by Giovanni di Rocketti, his estranged father. It is a war that only one side can survive, Ash knows. But his father is responsible for so many terrible crimes and only Ash, with his amazing skill as a Trainer and his uncanny empathy with all Pokémon can possibly defeat the darkness that Giovanni has planned as the future of the entire world. Joining him in his quest are: 

****

Misty Waterflower, the former assistant Gym Leader of the Cascade Gym, Ash's lover, soul mate and possibly the finest Water-type trainer who has ever lived. If individually, she and Ash are formidable, together they are invincible.

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Brock Slate, former Gym Leader and Rock-type specialist. He is a man of compassion, knowledge and terrifying skill as a fighter who has sworn to follow Ash in his quest. 

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James Weston, former member of Team Rocket who lost his family to the organisation's rapacious ways. He has sworn his vengeance and, alongside Ash, means to have it. 

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Jessie Scarlet, James' former partner in Team Rocket. She has seen James, a man she secretly loves, reduced to a hollow hateful shell by Team Rocket's evil. She will stand by James in his revenge and hope to restore his soul. 

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Richie Yeager, a brilliant young Pokémon Trainer who wishes to see an end to Team Rocket's evil, and has joined with his former rival to pursue that goal. 

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Sabrina von Daimen, Gym Leader, psychic and Psi-type specialist. For years she has looked for a cause worthy of her power, now she feels she has found it. 

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Maxine 'Duplicia' Simmonds, entertainer, impersonator, Master Trainer of Dittos and mistress of espionage. She knows a just cause when she sees one and is only too willing to fight for justice. 

****

Lance Hook, Fighting-type master and a cunning warrior in his own right. Lance is tired of Team Rocket's crimes and has joined Ash to see them punished. 

****

Joy Burke, Nurse, Pokémon Trainer and a former lover of Brock Slate. She may be late to join this quest, but she is not the least of this band. She knows to ignore evil is to support it, and she will not support evil.

Together, they represent a new breed of Pokémon Trainer, those who are not satisfied with simply a sporting League, but who are willing to act to find a greater destiny. Theirs is a story that will be told in different ways for a century to come. They are… **TEAM THUNDERBOLT**.

**__**

Chapter 2 – A Battle in the Long Crusade

Somewhere in the Southern Sea between Kanto and the Orange Archipelago, a strange-looking Gyarados water-type Pokémon was cruising through the seas. At first glance, this creature was similar to all its type, a long, serpentine creature with a gaping mouth filled with dangerously sharp fangs. At closer inspection, however, you would notice something wrong. This creature did not wind its way through the water like a snake, rather it was propelled by twin screws (propellers to you landlubbers), and if you looked even closer, you would see traces of corrosion. It was, in fact, a cleverly disguised submersible, owned and operated by the Team Rocket organisation.

Inside the control area, the crew of two 'White' Rocket junior field agents and two Dan'in 'grunts' were pedalling on what looked like a four-seat exercise bicycle, providing the motive power for the boat's screws. It was an ingenious design that, while exhausting sometimes, made the submersible virtually invisible to conventional passive anti-submarine sensors.

"So how much further is it, Carl?" asked Mark, his partner, who sat behind him.

Carl checked his LCD Moving Map Display. "Two more hours until we reach Seafoam Base," he replied. "Assuming the currents stay steady."

"It can't be too quick for me," groaned one of the grunts.

"Yeah, well no one cares what you think," Mark sneered in return. "Come on, Peter, Paul, put your backs into it, we all have to pedal, you know."

The Dan'in named Peter scowled at his unit commander and bent to his task. These damn field agents were all the same. They thought getting that white tunic (and later a black one) made them _better_ than the ordinary Rocket. Well, they had to obey the Boss too, didn't they? He had met a lot of Field Agents in his time and had never seen one walking on water, so he wasn't impressed. One of these days…

Suddenly all the thoughts of mutiny and a leisurely shore leave at Celadon Base came to a screaming halt when the boat suddenly jerked and pitched up slightly. There was a howl of tortured metal and the lights dimmed slightly as the concussion jarred the circuit breakers. "What the hell?" Carl shouted, having to grab his handlebars to stop himself being thrown into Peter's face.

Despite the fact that all four Team Rocket agents were still pedalling, the Gyarados-like boat stopped dead in the water. "We've been hit!" Paul shouted as the lights dimmed and the hull groaned metallically.

"I don't get it," Mark shouted as he checked the sonar displays. "There is nothing there! We can't have been hit! Switching to infrared sensors." The screen showed the cause of the trouble. Something large and generating a lot of heat but with no detectable metal mass was attached to the submarine's rear. "What the hell is that?" Mark shook his head. "Full ahead, guys, we've got to break loose!"

Everyone pedalled harder, as hard as they could, but the submersible could make no headway. "I don't want to die," Paul moaned. Peter gritted his teeth and restrained himself from hitting the new recruit in the back seat.

"We should use the delouser," Peter suggested.

It was typical of the relationship between field agents and grunts that Mark acted as if it was _his_ idea. "We should use the delouser," he said. "Carl, put a level-two charge in the hull." The system was simple, it used battery power to electrify the hull and discourage any biological attackers. Although the boat's disguise was good against humans, it made some large water-types hungry.

There was a distinct whine as the batteries discharged into the hull. The lights dimmed and the display screens blanked out for five seconds. There was still a half-charge left in the batteries, though. A few hours of pedalling would recharge them. "Did we get it?" Paul asked in a worried tone that revealed his extreme youth.

"I'm not reading anything on infrared now," Carl said after the screens clicked back on. "No, wait, there is something small just amidships." Carl frowned. "It is less than one one-hundredth the size of the first contact.

Mark frowned and activated the boat's search periscope. At there current depth of just 10 metres, there was no need for using the light-amplification mode, so he peered through the blue gloom of the ocean. He rotated the periscope until he was looking back along the length of the boat. There, hovering along the starboard side of the boat, was a woman with ginger hair in a SCUBA suit. She waved jauntily at the periscope when she saw it point at her. "What the hell is a diver doing out here?" Mark asked himself stupidly.

On the periscope display, the woman reached behind her and pulled something out. She touched it on the side and it suddenly emitted a bright white flash that resolved itself into a Staryu water-type Pokémon. "She's a Trainer," Mark said. "Hey, guys, I think we're under attack or something…" It was quite a guess. In response to a single gesture, the Staryu suddenly began to whirl madly and shot out of sight under the submarine. Mark knew he should do something, but all his training and experience simply didn't prepare him for such an unusual attack.

There was a sudden loud bang that echoed through the submarine, followed by the unmistakable scream of rending metal. As the four appalled Team Rocket agents watched, the Staryu sliced a five-metre long gash along the left side of the boat. Water began to flood in creating panic. "Surface!" Mark howled. "Emergency ballast release!"

"The buoyancy tanks are gone!" Carl replied, barely holding his panic. "That Staryu has torn the sub open from front to back!" As the water reached ankle-height, the lights began to flicker as seawater got into the power system.

"Full up elevators," Mark muttered, working the guidance controls in front of him. "Pedal for your life, lads." Pedal they did, but the submarine did not rise. Instead it began to pitch up and continued to slowly sink, now slowly drifting tail-first towards the sea floor some 1,000 metres down. Mark looked at the periscope display again and saw the problem. The submarine's tail, where the propellers were hidden, was gone. Whatever originally attacked them had ripped them off like the hull was made of tissue paper.

Mark froze at the sight as the electrical system began to fail. Sparks flashed across the chamber as the boat continued to flood. The lights flickered dramatically and failed. All the display monitors blinked out. Emergency blue lights came on. Along with the few functioning control displays, this created a ghostly, terrifying atmosphere in the doomed submersible. "We have to abandon ship!" Peter yelled. When Mark did not reply, the veteran Dan'in took a risk and punched him on the shoulder. "Sir!"

Mark did not unfreeze, but Carl did. "Everybody out!" he shouted as sparks continued to flash from shorted-out electrical equipment. He reached overhead to open the escape hatch. "Remember your emergency drills. Breathe out as you go up!" Mark finally stirred and reached up to help open the hatch, letting even more water into the boat.

One by one, the four agents rose up to the surface, deliberately breathing out to prevent the pressure differential from exploding their lungs. Below them, their submersible rolled over onto its back and began to nose dive towards its' grave.

Carl broke the surface first. He gasped, spat water and sucked in a deep breath. They were dead, of course. They were in the middle of the sea with no life raft and no survival equipment. Carl floundered hopelessly and tried to tread water, but his Team Rocket uniform was becoming waterlogged and his equipment was dragging him back down.

Carl went under and barely clawed his way to the surface. When he did so, much to his surprise, a blue-grey hull or body sat in the water in front of him. Either a boat or a water-type of some kind, but Carl did not care. In his blind panic, he did not think, but paddled over and grasped the strong hand offered from above. The person lifted him up onto the back of the Lapras and thumped him on the back, helping him expel the last of the seawater from his lungs.

Carl looked up at his saviour. He saw a man of medium height with untidy black hair wearing some kind of paramilitary clothing and with a Raichu perched on his shoulders. The man pulled off his dark glasses and looked at him with chocolate-brown eyes that twinkled with humour. The man smiled gently. 

"Hi there," said Ash. "Are you having problems with your boat?" 

Behind Ash, Sabrina, Brock and Joy stepped into view. Carl looked around over and saw the ginger-red haired woman in SCUBA gear pull herself up onto James' Gyarados, manned by Duplicia, James and Jessie. Misty waved at him, just as she waved at Mark through the periscope. Above him, Richie and Lance rode Richie's Dragonite, Tempest, who hovered over Lapras. Mark, Peter and Paul rose helplessly out of the water in the telekinetic grip of Sabrina's Mew. 

Carl was more than a little relieved when Raichu suddenly emitted a massive electrical shock and the world descended into darkness.

***

The harbourmaster at Celadon Base was an over-worked man, as many of the grey-uniformed Team Rocket technicians were. Therefore, he did not look to closely at the Gyarados-class sub sailing into the docking cavern through the opened sea doors. If he had, he would have noticed that the crew of four on top, dealing with the mooring operation, was not the crew he was expecting in. As it was, he was given no real opportunity to regret his error.

The brunette woman in the uniform of a Black Rocket field agent strode down the hallway, accompanied by two Dan'in, one a man with long black hair, and the other a red haired woman who was keeping most of her hair under her forage cap as regulations demanded it. If anyone wondered why the three Rockets didn't meet anyone's casual gaze, they didn't worry too hard. Maybe they were tired and didn't want conversation.

Together this threesome walked the corridors of Seafoam Base, travelling deeper and deeper until they reached the generator rooms. "Halt," the Dan'in guarding the entrance said. "Where's your authorisation?"

The Black Rocket looked down her nose at the guard. "What did you say, you pathetic little grunt?" she asked in a prim and proper Viridian accent.

"Er… I said I need your authorisation to enter, Ma'am," the guard repeated, this time trying to sound more respectful. "This is a restricted area."

"Excellent," the field agent responded, smiling grimly. "You have done your duty well. Now stand aside and I will have no reason to pursue your insubordination further." She moved to step around him and enter the machinery area.

"No!" the guard shouted, then realised who he was shouting at. "Ma'am, I can't let you in there without a signed authorisation card!" He cringed as he drew his pistol. He also nudged his Jolteon, who stepped forward and growled menacingly. "If you don't have one, I will have to ask you to step away from the door."

"Very well," the woman replied with a long-suffering sigh. She turned to the male Dan'in accompanying her, snapped her fingers imperiously and reached out. The man delved into his pocket, presumably getting their authorisation card out. The guard was so focussed on the man, that he didn't see the Black Rocket check the corridor was empty, then activate and drop a Pokéball. 

The ball opened and released a shapeless pink mass with a strangely unformed smiling face. The Jolteon noticed, all right. [What in the name of Doggy Biscuits?] he asked himself.

"Zeppo, Xerox Surprise!" the White Rocket suddenly shouted, making the guard jump.

"Ditto!" Zeppo turned into a Jolteon and suddenly unleashed a massive Lightning Bolt attack that blew the _real_ Jolteon and the Dan'in guard straight into dreamland.

Within a few moments, James and Zeppo were guarding the entrance, while Jessie and Duplicia dragged the two unconscious guardians into a janitor's closet across the way.

***

The Harbourmaster looked at the newly arrived sub again. There was something about it that he didn't like. He looked at the submersible closely and considered the problem. It wasn't the lack of an open crew hatch. Many crews closed up before signing off. No, It was the organic sheen to its hull and the fact that it was _breathing_. There was also something that looked suspiciously like a radio attached to one of its auditory openings. The radio crackled. The Harbourmaster, overtaken by the _strangeness_ of the situation, listened hard and suddenly heard a nasal male voice say: "Gyarados, Dragon Rage attack!"

Gyarados suddenly roared and ripped free of the moorings his Trainer had attached to the pier. In a few moments of the most exquisite violence, the water Pokémon tore through dozens of Gyarados- and Magicarp-class boats, shredding their steel hulls as if they were made of soft pastry. Panic reigned in the docking cavern and alarms began to shrill. The alarms suddenly cut off and the entire underground base was suddenly in darkness. Gyarados, used to hunting in the absolute darkness some two miles below the ocean's surface, was unhindered.

"Gyarados, open that door. Body Slam attack," James voice crackled over the little radio earpiece. Gyarados roared in berserker fury and slammed against the sea doors. They were designed to take several times that punishment, but only from _outside_. Gyarados' attack tore both leaves of the sea doors off of their hinges.

As the Team Rocket personnel blinked in the sunlight, a Lapras and a Gyarados suddenly swept in through the opening. Seven Trainers leapt off of the water-types' backs and released Pokémon. In an environment of confusion and panic, they swept through the minimal resistance the shell-shocked personnel could put up in a matter of seconds.

In the base's Command Centre, emergency battery-powered control systems were just coming on line. "What the hell is happening?" Asked the Elite Rocket named Scott, the base commander, as he paced around the control area. "What has happened to our power and what was the cause of that alarm in the docking cavern?"

"Unknown, sir," one technician replied. "We've lost internal communications. However, our systems show that power was cut off from the main generator room."

Scott frowned. As inconceivable as it seemed, it looked like someone had infiltrated his base and knocked out power for an attack. "Jean," he said, turning to his partner. "Take a combat team down to the Generator Room and restore power." He pulled on his Pokébelt and turned to leave the room. "I'll take command of the troops facing the invaders."

About a minute later, Jean reached the barricaded entrance to the Generator Room. Not willing to wait, she had her Machamp and Rhyhorn smash their way in. The combat team barged into the Generator Room and saw three intruders in dark civilian clothing standing among the unconscious technicians. Two of the Black Rocket field agents accompanying her released Pokémon of their own, a Flareon and a Geodude. "Surrender," Jean announced, "or prepare to fight." Man, she _liked_ that part of the motto.

The red-haired woman on the right side of the triangle of intruders smiled carnivorously. "Funny," Jessie replied in a thoughtful tone. "I was just going to say that myself."

The fawn-haired woman in the middle activated four Pokéballs, releasing four Ditto morphing-type Pokémon. "Okay, Groucho, Chico, Zeppo and Harpo, Transform!" Suddenly there was another Machamp, Rhyhorn, Geodude and Flareon in the chamber. At a word from Duplicia, they charged, tackling their opposite numbers with considerable and unexpected skill.

The Team Rocket agents were so intent on this sudden attack, that they forgot about Jessie and James until Meowth and Growly the Arcanine charged them from the front and Arbok and Victreebell charged from either side, unleashing poison darts and razor leaves.

The battle quickly turned into a Technicolor massacre as Team Rocket agents and their Pokémon went down in every direction. Jean turned and tried to run, but found Duplicia right in front of her. Duplicia smiled as Harpo/Flareon strolled to her side. "Ready to give up yet?" she asked.

Jean's reply was to snarl and release her most dangerous weapon, her Haunter. Duplicia hunkered down, prepared for a fight against the red-uniformed Elite Rocket. "Harpo, Transform." The Flareon instantly morphed into a Haunter, too.

Jean jumped back, suddenly remembering that a Ditto could imitate _any_ Pokémon and copy its' attacks. "Terror!" she ordered her Haunter.

"Reflect," Duplicia countered. This defence reflected the terror attack back onto Haunter. The ghost-type reeled backwards and Duplicia pushed her advantage. "Kinesis," she commanded. Harpo the Ditto reached out with the kinetic powers he had copied from Haunter and threw both ghost-Pokémon and Elite Rocket hard against the wall. 

Harpo looked at Duplicia who smiled. "Nice work, Harpo. Now let's try a new one. Use Lick attack." Harpo levitated forward and _licked_ Haunter. The energy-sapping, terror-inducing attack was enough to make poor Haunter faint. He had never been the subject of a haunting himself. A second Lick sent the cowering Jean into dreamland.

"Revert," Duplicia ordered. Harpo returned to his 'default' shape, best described as a pink Jell-O mould with a happy face. Duplicia grinned and tickled the Ditto under what could loosely be termed his chin. "Nice job, Harpo, you really are my favourite for this kind of job."

Accompanied by the other Dittos, Jessie and James swaggered over. "Scratch one counter-offensive," Jessie said with a slight smile.

"It almost gets boring," James said, looking at his erstwhile comrades with a slight sneer. "I wonder how Ash is getting on?"

***

"Geodude, Dynamic Punch," shouted Scott

"Raichu, Agility," Ash countered. Raichu ducked under Geodude's flailing arms and then jumped over a follow-up punch. 

Ash made a 'cutting scissors' gesture with his right hand. Raichu turned into a tan-and-yellow blur of motion. He feinted to the left and then ducked back, slamming a high-speed Quick Attack into Geodude's back. The levitating sentient rock went tumbling across the smoky corridor and impacted against a wall panel. "Slam!" Ash ordered.

"Dodge," Scott yelled, but it was too late. Raichu physically threw the rock-type Pokémon across the corridor. It struck the far wall and rolled to a halt on the floor, quite unconscious.

Scott backed up and looked around him in panic. As he watched, Lance's Machamp and Hitmonchan were rounding up the last of his combat team in fine style. Machamp would grab one and throw him or her to Hitmonchan, who would knock them over the rail and into the water with a hard left hook. Ash's Lapras and Misty's Tentacruel fished the semi-conscious Rockets out of the water and piled them up on one of the piers.

"You are running out of options, sir," Ash said. "I think it would be better if you surrendered."

"Team Rocket never surrenders!" Scott shouted. He drew a Pokéball and activated it, releasing a Charizard. "Charizard, flame-thrower!"

"Thunder Shield," Ash countered. The massive flame attack boiled uselessly against Raichu's defence, giving Ash a chance to draw another Pokéball and activate it. "Go Wartortle!" The hard-shelled Water-type materialised in front of Ash and looked around with bright, intelligent eyes. Ash made a tumbling motion with his hands and pointed forward.

"Flame-thrower again," Scott ordered. "Concentrate on the Wartortle, Charizard! Prepare to counter a ranged water-type attack." But instead of a sudden jet of water, Wartortle leapt forward, tucking his limbs and head into his shell for a Skull Bash attack. The Flame-thrower attack struck Raichu's Thunder Shield again as Wartortle tumbled overhead. He struck Charizard right on the head, knocking the Dragon silly. 

Charizard staggered back, his head ringing, as Wartortle jumped to his feet. _Now _was the time for a Hydro Pump attack. Ash made a fist with his right arm and mimed a punch at Charizard. The stunned dragon opened his mouth to launch a Flame-thrower attack when the water jet shot down his throat. Charizard hiccuped then coughed out a little cloud of steam and then tumbled unconscious onto his side.

Scott recalled his Charizard, an expression of panic on his face. "Are you ready to give up yet?" Ash asked in a tired tone. He nodded to Raichu and jerked a finger towards Scott. Raichu nodded back and got set up for a Stun Shock.

"No!" Scott shouted. "I will never surrender!" He pulled out another Pokéball, and then Machamp hit him hard on the head. Scott's eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed, wearing a silly smile on his face.

"Thanks, Lance," Ash said, offering the Fighting-type Master an ironic smile. "But it really wasn't necessary. I was going to get Raichu to shock him."

"Don't you ever get tired of grandstanding with these red-uniformed non-entities, Ash?" Lance asked as Machamp slung Scott into the water along with his troops. "You really could take them out far more efficiently, you know."

"You fight a Trainer one-on-one until he yields or has nothing left to fight with," Ash said. "Then you make the capture. It works for me."

Lance shook his head. "They are Team Rocket, Ash," Lance insisted. "You don't have to use any kind of honour code of duels with them. Just beat 'em and move on."

"That's dangerous thinking, Lance," Ash warned as he recalled Wartortle. "It is an attitude that made Team Rocket what it is today." Lance rolled his eyes and made as if to ward Ash off, making him laugh. He could never stay mad at the young fighting-type master. If he was aggressive… well that was appropriate for his calling and Ash would never say 'no' to having such an effective Trainer at his side. 

Ash turned back to the docking cavern and looked over the rail. Misty was directing her Starmie and Staryu as they looped rope around the unconscious Team Rocket agents. Joy's Squirtle and Pikachu were helping out as the former nurse looked around at the carnage with a shocked expression. She had gone through a rough patch at the outset, Ash knew, but she had unfrozen quickly enough and had accounted for more than her share of Dan'in and technicians. "How is it going, Misty?" he shouted to his lover.

"Well, you could say we've almost got everything wrapped up here, Ash," Misty said with a chuckle. Ash laughed too.

Suddenly a groggy but still-conscious Team Rocket grunt rose to his feet and reached towards Joy. Ash started and was about to shout a warning, but Misty reacted immediately. "Togepi! Kinesis!" Little Togepi, who was hovering at her side, suddenly flared with icy blue light. The Dan'in fighter was seized by an invisible hand and thrown back across the chamber. He struck the stone walls and slid down, knocked out cold.

Joy looked at the unconscious man and had to swallow a scream. Her legs felt like they were made of water, but somehow, she managed to remember to get her Squirtle to drag the man back to join his colleagues. "Are you alright?" Misty asked, worried.

"I've been better," Joy said, her voice breaking. "Thanks for watching my back."

Misty smiled in a worried way and shot Ash a thumbs-up. All was under control. Ash waved back, feeling quite relieved. "_Richie to Ash_," crackled Ash's walkie-talkie. 

Ash pulled the device off his belt and replied. "Yeah, go Richie."

"_We've just taken the Command Centre_," Richie reported. "_Only minimal resistance on the upper levels. It looks like your plan to knock out the power has trapped most of their personnel in the living quarters on the lower levels._"

"That's good, Richie," Ash said with a pleased smile. "Get ready to release the knock-out gas." Ash changed frequency. "Ash to everyone. Gas masks on, people."

***

Richie walked around the command centre. His Ivysaur growled, as he held the few still-conscious technicians against the wall with his powerful body. "Go easy, Leaf-roar," Richie advised. "We don't want to hurt them _too_ badly." He grinned as he noticed the look of panic on the technicians' faces as he pulled on his gas mask.

Brock laughed as his Graveler finished smashing the last of the weapons dropped by collapsing Team Rocket agents. "Richie, stop intimidating them," he said. You know Ash hates it if he has to knock 'em around just to get them talking because they're frozen with fear."

Over the sea of unconscious bodies, mostly technicians but with a few Black and White Rockets sprinkled among them, Sabrina sat at the Internal Security control station. Her Haunter hovered over the unconscious technician that had manned the station, scanning his sub-conscious mind. [Final code 1-5-6-9] Haunter reported.

"1-5-6-9," Sabrina said. "Good work, Haunter." She pulled on her gas mask. _We're ready_; Richie heard her voice in his head, making him shudder. Her 'wild' psi-talent and its ability to intrude on his thoughts intimidated him more than James desire for vengeance and Ash's dedication to the war.

Sabrina sensed Richie's distaste, and, out of spite, let Richie hear Ash's reply to her report, just to make him feel inadequate. _Right, Sabrina. We're ready here, too. Release the gas._

Yes, Ash, Sabrina replied. She pressed the activation code and gas began to hiss from every air conditioning vent. The Pokémon were sufficiently tough not to be affected, but unprotected frail humans groaned and collapsed. She smiled. She could sense every other human mind, apart from her friends, drift into the darkness of sleep. It was over. Suddenly she gasped and almost collapsed, holding the side of her head. This brought Brock to her side immediately.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "Is your mask secure?"

"No, I'm fine," Sabrina insisted. "It is something else, something in our futures… something terrible." She smiled slightly and patted the black-haired former Gym Leader on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Brock, I'm okay. I've just had a precognitive flash. I'll tell Ash about it when we've finished." She concentrated on her leader and sent another telepathic report. _Ash, it is over. Team Thunderbolt has emerged victorious again_.

"_Good_," Ash replied over her walkie-talkie. "_Start venting the gas, and then work your way back to the Docking Cavern, neutralising all their suicide devices as you go_."

"As always, Ash," she said into her walkie-talkie. 

"We're on our way," Brock added.

***

"Joy, are you all right?" Brock asked his one-time lover and now his team-mate. She had slipped away from Team Thunderbolt's encampment just after sunset and was now watching the stars.

"I…" Joy shook her head. "I didn't understand what Ash said to me before we started out," she revealed. "But I do now. It was unlike anything I've ever even imagined before. I was terrified Brock. After the initial attack, I felt better, but those first few seconds… with bullets flying and Pokémon screaming as they ran towards us… I saw Hell."

"It's ugly all right," Brock agreed. He was more than a little worried about Joy. She was tough, yes. Tough, vindictive and with a vicious streak a kilometre wide when provoked (_Just like you, Brock-o_ a cynical part of him interjected), but she was really a gentle sort of person. The sort of intense battles Team Thunderbolt engaged in were not the sort of thing he thought she was suited to, emotionally or mentally. "Ash would understand if you wanted out," he ventured.

"I am _not_, a quitter," she hissed at Brock. "You may not want me here, Mr. Slate, but you don't own me. I have chosen my path, and I will stick to it!" She turned and started to storm off back towards the camp.

"For better or for worse?" Brock asked her retreating back.

Joy's shoulders slumped. "Definitely for worse," she replied. She gestured helplessly and continued in an embarrassed tone. "You… you'd better watch your step on the way back Brock. I… ran because I was about to throw up. It… uh… it's around here somewhere."

"It happens after the first time," Brock said compassionately. "War is not a natural thing, and our bodies and minds tend to react pretty badly." He frowned, remembering Misty's nightmares, Jessie's brief flirtation with abusing the sedatives in the medical kits and Ash's bouts of sickness. "It passes quite quickly, though I don't think that is a good thing, God help us."

Joy laughed hollowly. "You always had the talent for making a bad situation sound worse," she reminded him.

***

Inspector Jennifer Black (Officer Jenny to most people) of the Viridian City Security Police looked around the massive docking cavern with an expression of amazement. "How the hell has Team Rocket built places like this, practically right underneath a major city, with _no one_ noticing?" she asked no one in particular.

The other SPs either ignored her oft-expressed comment, or simply shrugged. It was proof, if proof was needed, that they were out of their league in dealing with the terrorist organisation. That is why the mysterious vigilantes who had been causing so much chaos recently were so popular. Jenny frowned as she looked again at the huge double thunderbolt-through-circle emblem that someone had used what seemed to be an arc welder to carve into the walls of the docking cavern.

"Again it is these Thunderbolt people," she shouted. She shook her head. "All right, people, you know the drill. Once we've got the warm bodies out, start going over every square millimetre of this place. Hair, skin fragments, blood, anything. We've got to find out who these people are!"

There were murmurs of agreement as her subordinates got to work. _Why did this have to happen?_ Jenny asked herself. _Team Rocket is a problem, yes, but this solution could bring the whole balance of society crashing down_. She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. _If only there was a clue, any clue to who was behind this_, she groaned to herself. But there wasn't, and even captured Team Rocket agents were less-than forthcoming about those responsible for their capture. After six months, and the most sustained campaign of terrorist violence in the history of Kanto, the Security Police were no closer to discovering who was behind this and why.

__

What is worse, she realised, _they are dragging me in, giving me information and getting me to co-operate with their operation._ She shook her head. _Did it start this way with Team Rocket?_

That night, she sat in her hotel room in Vermilion City. She pulled off her heels and tights. Frankly, she hated the 'business formal' look required of senior officers, but rules were rules. She stretched, rubbed her stiff legs and tried to concentrate on her notes. Over 300 Team Rocket agents captured along with equipment, data files and thousands of stockpiled Pokémon for rehabilitation. 

Once again, apart from some minor fragments of minimal forensic value and the enigmatic 'Team Thunderbolt' sigil, there was no useful evidence from the remains of the base. This was turning into a recurring nightmare for Jenny. The regional governor was coming down hard on the Chief of Police, who was delegating his discomfort to her. If she didn't get a break soon, she would need a new job.

All that she needed to make a bad day complete was for her visitor to make an appearance. "Hello Officer Jenny," said a voice. "The usual routine, don't turn around or you'll be unconscious before you finish your move." Crap, speak of the devil.

"Are you even going to bother to tell me your name this time?" she asked over her shoulder to the person waiting out on her balcony.

"I am the voice of Team Thunderbolt, that is all you need to know," Ash told her. He grinned. _This_ part stimulated the kid in him. It was as good as being a secret agent or superhero. "Did you have any problems getting into the base's computer systems?"

"One or two," Jenny replied. "Some systems are still locked down. We can't get through their security protocols."

"Try using a twelve-figure prime number," Ash suggested. "Their technicians told our resident mind reader that all the base security codes are those numbers." Ash chuckled. "You may also want to try the last four winning lottery ticket numbers from the National Lottery. They seem to crop up a lot too."

Jenny sighed. "Yeah, thanks for the help as always. Is it too much to hope this is the last act in this sorry saga?"

"I'm afraid not, we've a lot to do before we reach the end," Ash replied. "Still, the next act won't be for a while. Our analysts must review the data we've got from interrogating the base commanders. Maybe it will bring us closer to our ultimate goal."

Jenny sagged. "The destruction of Team Rocket? There are millions of them worldwide. God, mister… Win or lose you are going to cause so much chaos."

"Sometimes you must be willing to cause a hurt to stop a greater injury," Ash reminded her. "Team Rocket is the biggest cause of chaos of them all. Once they are gone… well, then we can hope for better conditions."

That was too much for Jenny. "You arrogant bastard!" she shouted. "Who appointed you arbiter of what needs to be done in our country? You are as bad as them!" She leapt from her bed and rushed to the balcony, but her 'contact' was gone. "Aw, heck," she snapped. She looked around the balcony for any clue as to where he went. She didn't find any, but she found the two Elite Rocket agents, tied and gagged and sitting against the safety rail. They looked around them with panic and seemed relieved when Jenny read them their rights and called for an arrest squad.

***

Ash materialised at the campsite. "Another relocation complete," Duplicia announced with a grin, recalling her Abra.

"You will have to tell me how you do that pull/push combination," Ash said with some admiration.

"Trade secret, I'd be thrown out of the Magic Circle if I told," Duplicia said and walked off.

"Sometimes I think she is crazy," Ash told Misty who walked over to offer him a coffee.

"I know she is crazy," Misty said, her face twisted with a combination of laughter and concern. "This is a woman who gets her kicks from impersonating Giovanni and waking you up in the middle of the night, remember?"

"Yeah, well I got over my surprise and stopped Charizard before he killed her, didn't I?" Ash asked defensively. "Besides she hasn't done it again."

"After I got my Gyarados to sit on her," Misty said, her smile turning vindictive, "I think she got the message."

"I say it was when James had Victreebell swallow her head for a whole day," Ash said. "She really shouldn't have woken those two up with the Team Rocket motto and her Dittos imitating dangerous Pokémon." Misty laughed at the memories and Ash laughed back and hugged her, absorbing her warmth and humanity. Some days, it was all there was that kept him in one piece.

"But if you really want to know my opinion," Misty said, "she does it to help us loosen up, not to frighten us. I think she is acting mad to try to keep us sane."

***

Mondo frowned as he read the intelligence analysts' report on the destruction of Celadon Base. The trickle had become a tide and no intelligent person could possibly deny that the organisation was under a sustained attack by a well-equipped and deadly enemy bent on its' utter destruction.

The latest fiasco made it a grand total of forty-nine bases destroyed in twenty-seven weeks. Over 7,500 Team Rocket agents and double that number of technicians and researchers were now in Security Police holding units all around Indigo. At this rate of attrition, the analysts calculated, the entire Kanto Republic would be lost to Team Rocket by the end of the year. And still, Giovanni refused to act. Well, enough was enough.

Mondo picked up the bulging 'Team Thunderbolt' file and took the elevator from the Intelligence section to Giovanni's office at the highest level of the Headquarters building. The guards, well used to seeing their master's oldest and most trusted lieutenant, waved him into the antechamber without so much as a second glance.

"_Who is it?_" Giovanni asked over the intercom when the motion detectors reported to him that someone was awaiting an audience with him. 

"Mondo, sir," Mondo replied. "I have the Thunderbolt file updated and I thought you would like to see it."

"_Come in,_" Giovanni said, sounding resigned.

Mondo had to have seen this office thousands of times, but still it was a source of wonder to him. Built like a medieval European church with flying buttresses, thick stone columns and decorative stonework, the office well reflected the power and importance of its' occupant, Giovanni diRocketti. From somewhere above in the arched stone roof, a single beam of sunlight shone down on Giovanni's desk, illuminating the terrorist leader in silhouette. 

Mondo entered the office and stood in the huge inlaid mosaic of the Team Rocket sigil. "Yes Mondo," Giovanni said in a neutral tone.

"Sir," Mondo began, "I would never question your strategies, you know that. However, these attacks on our facilities in Indigo, Johto and Orange are reaching a critical level. If something is not done soon, we may lose our ability to operate in the region."

"Yes," Giovanni agreed. "That matches my own analysis of the matter. Tell me, Mondo, who do our analysts believe is responsible?"

"This 'Team Thunderbolt' is definitely a large underground army of some kind, sir," he reported. "We suspect that they may have an operating base in the Viridian Forest.

Giovanni laughed. "Well they are wrong," he announced. "Do not worry, my old, faithful friend. I know who is behind this and I am ready to act."

"Sir?" this surprised Mondo and he showed it, dropping the file and scattering reports all over the floor. Giovanni laughed even harder at his lieutenant's amazement.

"Do you really think I would allow such opposition to our activities to continue if it were not part of my greater strategy?" Giovanni asked, wiping a tear from his good eye. "My dear Mondo, in this matter, as in all other matters, everything that has taken place has done so according to my design." Giovanni leaned back in his chair and began to stroke Persian meditatively. "I have been testing our adversaries, my dear Mondo, and they have proven worthy of us."

"Proven… worthy?" Mondo bleated. "Sir, I don't understand!"

"No, of course you don't," Giovanni remarked darkly. "Your only purpose is to obey, not understand. That is the difference between you and the leader of Team Thunderbolt." Giovanni swung his chair around and looked at the massive tapestry on the wall, looted from one of the greatest palaces in Europe. "For eighteen years since I purged Team Rocket of those who would have tried to stop me imposing the New Order upon the world, I have searched in vain for an enemy worthy of me; one who I could call brother… or _son_. Someone to complete the work, after I am gone."

"Son?" Mondo paused and gaped at the back of his leader's chair. "Your son… Ash Ketchum?"

"His name for now…" Giovanni replied. "By successfully prosecuting this war, he has proven himself worthy of being my apprentice and my heir. Now the time has come for his noviciate to end and for him to take his place at my side." Giovanni swung back around and glared at Mondo. "Be assured my friend, soon Team Thunderbolt will cease to be of any concern to us. Those of them with any intelligence will bend their knee to me. Any who insist on maintaining this pitiful opposition to my will shall die. My son will see to that."

Mondo smiled grimly and bowed to his leader. "Of course, sir," he replied. "I shouldn't have doubted you."

"Get out," Giovanni said in a bored but friendly tone.

Giovanni waited until his lieutenant was out of the office before re-opening the call waiting on his videophone. "I'm sorry about that," he said conversationally. "Internal team business. You know how it is."

"_I understand_," replied the person on the screen. "_So we are agreed then?_"

"Yes," Giovanni said. "You will ensure Ash Ketchum is in the place we agreed at the time we agreed and my people will do the rest."

"_And I _will _get my money?_" the Betrayer added. 

Giovanni snorted to himself. _Yes you pitiful traitor, you will get your reward_. Giovanni hated traitors; traitors were selfish creatures who disrupted order for their own ends. He would like to show this one the contempt that he deserved, but he had an illusion to maintain. "Twenty-million US Dollars, as agreed," Giovanni confirmed. "However, my young friend, please remember that my reach is long and my vengeance is sure. _Don't_ think of double-crossing me."

"_Why would I do that?_" the Betrayer asked with an ingenuous smile. "_I _want_ Ketchum out of the way. So do you. We both get exactly what we wanted._"

"Indeed we do," Giovanni replied with a secret smile. He had no doubt that his son would want revenge for this particular act of childish spite. When the time came, claiming that vengeance would be his final test. "I will forward payment to a special account in Viridian City when you have delivered Ketchum to my agents. Giovanni out." 

Giovanni cut the call and leaned back in his chair. He pondered over the tactics he was intending to use and found them adequate. Soon, very soon, the world would tremble at the will of Giovanni diRocketti and of his son. "Mondo," he said, activating his intercom. "Connect me with Team Black Sigma. I have a new assignment for Butch and Cassidy."

__

To be continued…


	3. Betrayals Darker than Death or Night

**__**

PoKéMoN

Avenger - by Ben Russell-Gough

****

Legal Disclaimer

Pokémon, the Pocket Monsters and their human friends and enemies are all the sole copyright and trademark property of Nintendo Entertainment, Game Freak Software and 4 Kids Productions. No breach of any copyright or legal property is intended.

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Author's Notes

This is my first _Pokémon_ fic. I don't know all the monsters or all the moves. I base my story purely on what I've seen of the cartoon. I thank all the other Pokémon writers on this board for providing plenty of inspiration. Special thanks to Charles "RocketBoy" Reilly, Wind, Joshua Falken, Chuchino and Catalina Storm for their comments, advice and encouragement.

All right, all right, so I screwed up! Oops! I've just found out that Mondo is the fourth member of Jessie & James' team. He is only slightly older than Ash and Misty. This is a problem because I have been portraying him as a 45-year old man. 

Okay, from now on there are **two **Mondos. The one who worked with Jessie and James is the grandson of Giovanni's aide.

Text in [squared-off brackets] indicates the translation of a Pokémon's language into English.

Text in _Italics_ but not in quotes indicates thoughts or psychic communication.

Ages: Ash is 17; Misty has just turned 19; Brock is 25; Jessie and James are both 24; Richie is 17; Duplicia is 18; Sabrina is 20; Lance is 16; Joy is 29.

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Censor: R (Equivalent to UK '15' Certificate)

Content Warning: Swearing, violence and mature topics

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Book 2 – Team Rocket Strikes Back

__

What has gone before…

Ash Ketchum, former League Supreme Champion is a man on a mission. With his allies, he has formed Team Thunderbolt, a Pokémon guerrilla group dedicated to the overthrow of the evil Team Rocket terrorist organisation let by his father, Giovanni diRocketti.

For the last six months, the Thunderbolts have been fighting non-stop, destroying Team Rocket facilities and capturing thousands of Team Rocket agents. But now the good times seem to be coming to an end. Giovanni has at last determined that his son is responsible for the attacks on his organisation. Impressed at his performance, he has decided that Ash's destiny lies at his side. He is aided in his quest to turn Ash to the path of evil by a mysterious betrayer who stands closer to Ash than he might ever believe…

***

Giovanni waited until Mondo was out of the office before re-opening the call waiting on his videophone. "I'm sorry about that," he said conversationally. "Internal team business. You know how it is."

"_I understand_," replied the person on the screen. "_So we are agreed then?_"

"Yes," Giovanni said. "You will ensure Ash Ketchum is in the place we agreed at the time we agreed and my people will do the rest."

"_And I _will _get my money?_" the Betrayer added. 

Giovanni snorted to himself. _Yes you pitiful traitor, you will get your reward_. Giovanni hated traitors; traitors were selfish creatures who disrupted order for their own ends. He would like to show this one the contempt that he deserved, but he had an illusion to maintain. "Twenty-million US Dollars, as agreed," Giovanni confirmed. "However, my young friend, please remember that my reach is long and my vengeance is sure. _Don't_ think of double-crossing me."

"_Why would I do that?_" the Betrayer asked with an ingenuous smile. "_I _want_ Ketchum out of the way. So do you. We both get exactly what we wanted._"

"Indeed we do," Giovanni replied with a secret smile. He had no doubt that his son would want revenge for this particular act of childish spite. When the time came, claiming that vengeance would be his final test. "I will forward payment to a special account in Viridian City when you have delivered Ketchum to my agents. Giovanni out." 

Giovanni cut the call and leaned back in his chair. He pondered over the tactics he was intending to use and found them adequate. Soon, very soon, the world would tremble at the will of Giovanni diRocketti and of his son. "Mondo," he said, activating his intercom. "Connect me with Team Black Sigma. I have a new assignment for Butch and Cassidy."

__

And now the continuation…

****

Chapter 3 – Betrayals Darker than Death or Night

Team Thunderbolt was camping in the Viridian Forest just north of Viridian City.

Ash sat down next to Sabrina and handed her a coffee. "Now tell me exactly what you saw in that precognitive flash," he asked her in a kind tone.

Sabrina closed her piercing blue eyes for a moment and drew in a deep breath. "Ash," she said. "You have to understand that psi precognitive visions are not accurate prophecy, they are… visions of probability. It is what _might_ be based on what is happening outside of your immediate vicinity, do you understand that?"

Ash nodded. "Any clue you can give me is welcome, Sabrina," he replied.

Sabrina smiled gently. She could sense the pain and the fatigue in Ash's mind. The young man was only seventeen, and he was now leading a fight to the death against his own father. She wished she could ease that burden, but what she was about to do could only make things worse. "There are no words for what I saw," Sabrina explained. "Let me show you instead."

Ash paled at the thought of direct psychic contact, but recovered well. He nodded consent and Sabrina leaned across and brushed her long fingers against Ash's temples. Ash closed his eyes and suddenly his head exploded with images and sensations that crashed across his brain faster than his synapses could respond…

__

Betrayal… I am defeated… I see figures wearing Team Rocket uniforms closing in on me, as I lie trapped…

Pain… I have been chained up… Butch and Cassidy are sneering down at me…

More pain… my father's voice… "You are my son. You are just like me, no matter how you deny it! My brother knew this to be true! Why else would he have kept you hidden from me? You are Team Rocket, body and soul! It is your destiny!"

Pallet Town in flames… I leap to Moltres' back and we fly away…

My mother… Professor Oak… captured! I see them in chains in cells somewhere…

I feel rage… a blood red fury… I see Gary Oak in chains, being led into my presence… I am beating him relentlessly. His blood splatters my clothing… seeing his terror and his pain makes me feel good…

I am in Team Rocket's Headquarters… in my father's presence… Giovanni is telling me my place is at his side… He is holding a hand out to me in friendship… Offering me a place in Team Rocket…

I wear a uniform… as I lead a group of Trainers against an army somewhere… we are winning… none can stand against our power and skill… I feel contempt for those who we fight… resistance is pointless…

I am much older…I sit at a desk in an office high up in some kind of fortress… Misty is sitting on the desk… Raichu is sitting in my lap… Two young people in… a uniform… are reporting to me… I can hear the words… "Our units are in place worldwide, sir. They are ready to begin the attack on your order."

I rise… Misty rises too and stands at my side… "I will lead the attack on New York and the UN General Assembly myself…" I announce to my subordinates…

"NO!" Ash screamed. He knocked Sabrina's hands away and he fell onto his back. Ash writhed in pain as his brain's impulses slowed down to their normal rate.

"Ash!" Misty yelled as she ran over. "Alright, Sabrina, what did you do to him?"

"He will be all right," Sabrina replied, withdrawing into her usual detached and dignified reserve. Even as she said that, Ash was recovering.

Ash pulled himself to his feet. "It's okay, Misty," he gasped. Ash reeled for a moment before getting his bearings back. "Sabrina… what did I just see?"

"That was what I saw, Ash," Sabrina said gently. "I saw your destiny as it stands if nothing changes."

"A lot of it was indistinct," Ash said. "I… I was wearing a uniform… but I couldn't see what kind. Do you know any time scale for the fulfilment of this vision?"

Sabrina chuckled. "Ash, this isn't a mathematical projection, it is a vision of a potential future quantum state of reality. Time has no meaning on the levels that psionic talents work. It is the future. It is up to you how long it takes or whether you will act to change your path."

Ash sighed and seemed to sag in on himself. "Can you at least tell me whether this future is good or evil?" he asked gently.

Sabrina shook her head with a slight smile. "Ash, can you show me a particle of justice? Or an atom of love? Or a molecule of good? Those are human concepts and psionic phenomena do not reflect them. All I can tell you is what I said before: This is what will be if nothing changes."

Ash closed his eyes for a long moment before regaining his composure. He looked Misty in the eyes and she was surprised at the resolution and the strength she saw there. "Misty," Ash said. "Call the others. I've got to tell them something."

But as it turns out, Ash never did have the chance to hold that meeting. As soon as he stopped speaking, his mobile phone started ringing in his backpack.

Misty stared at it in disbelief. "I don't believe it, _who _could be calling you after all this time?"

"Whatever it is, it's bad news," Ash replied. "I left the number with Professor Oak and my mother for use in emergencies only." He saw again in his head the images of Pallet Town aflame. Motivated by fear… no terror, he ran over and pulled out the phone. "Ketchum."

"_Ash? Thank god, I thought that Grandpa was insane when he told me that I could just phone you up!_"

"Gary, is that you?" Ash asked in surprise.

"_Yeah, it's me,_" Gary Oak replied. "_Ash, I know that this might sound weird after all the arguments we've had, but I need your help._" Ash could barely recognise Gary's voice. He had never heard his incredibly self-confident friend so utterly consumed by fear. "_I need it badly, Ash old buddy, and I need it now._"

"Where can I find you?" Ash asked.

***

Ash helped Gary down from Charizard's back and pulled off his blindfold. It was a security precaution Gary understood, but didn't like really. Frankly, Ash was getting too into this 'freedom fighter' role for his comfort. 

He looked around the group of Ash's associates and felt a little nervous. After all, these ten people had been fighting a war with Team Rocket for the last six months. Who knows how they would react if they didn't like what they were going to hear? What made it even more unnerving was the presence of those two ex-terrorists, Jessie and James. What if Ash hadn't properly domesticated them yet? Yes there were many risks, but this was too important for him to feel fear.

Gary tried to overcome his nerves with a little of his usual bombast. He walked over to Misty and courteously kissed her hand. "Ms. Waterflower, you are still a beauty that lights up the world," he announced.

Misty rolled her eyes as Jessie, Joy, Sabrina and Duplicia all giggled. "And you are still a strutting Jigglypuff, Gary," Misty replied. "How comforting to know some things never change." Gary rolled his eyes at her insult. Misty stuck out her tongue and pulled down an eyelid. Suddenly, Gary, Misty and Ash were all laughing. This brought back good memories of more innocent times.

Gary turned to Ash. "Thanks for picking me up, Ash," Gary said with barely concealed sarcasm. "I enjoy being plucked off of the road from the air."

"It was necessary, Gary," Ash replied. "You know the number of people we have looking for us. I could hardly just give you directions."

Gary laughed. "Nah, you couldn't, could you? Especially given you well-known blood feud with maps."

Ash rolled his eyes. Yes, this was Gary Oak all right: sanctimonious, sarcastic and a general pain-in-the-arse. "Gary if you want to abuse me, this isn't a good time."

Gary sobered. "Oh I agree, Cuz," he replied. "We are in deep shit, and so is our home town, that is why I had to find you."

The images from Sabrina's vision flashed up into Ash's mind again. "What the hell are you talking about?" Ash asked, sounding more forceful than he intended.

Gary looked around at the camp and his eyes lit up when he saw the campfire and the coffee pot simmering away. "Do you mind if we sit down?" he asked. "I've been driving for the last day trying to find you before I remembered Grandpa and the emergency contact number."

Ash nodded and gestured for him to precede him. Ash, Misty and Gary sat down. Jessie, James, Brock and Joy hovered in the background. Ash passed around some cups of coffee before looking Gary in the face. "So what is this big threat?" Ash asked, trying to keep his tone light.

"I was in a bar the other day," Gary revealed. "A little roadside place just outside of Viridian, but that doesn't matter. Anyway, there was this big guy with green hair and this woman with blond hair in pigtails. They were enjoying a few too many, you know? Anyway, they were pretty pleased with themselves. The big guy says in this voice that sounds like two rusty tin cans being ground together: 'When we hit that place, it'll bring him out of the woodwork for sure.'"

Gary paused and looked at his audience. Ash's face was unreadable, but he saw James tense and clench his fists. He mouthed names: 'Butch and Cassidy.' Yep, he was right about who it was.

"Keep talking," Ash said neutrally.

"Well I slide up nice and inconspicuous," Gary continued. "I mean these two look dangerous, _real_ dangerous. I make like a drunk and listen in. The woman says, 'Yeah, you got to admit the Boss is ambitious! Take out a whole town just to get one guy!'

"The guy laughs real nasty and replies, 'Well that's what you get for being the hometown of the guy who runs Team Thunderbolt.' Anyway, I'm thinking, 'Team Thunderbolt, what the hell is that?' Then it hits me. The Thunderbolt emblem that was being left behind every time someone hits a Team Rocket base! They are talking about destroying a town to get back at the guy in charge of them!

"Now this is _serious_ stuff, Ash. I am pretty much pissing myself at this point, when it gets to the worst bit. They are both laughing in a pretty nasty way. The big guy starts smiling really sick and says, 'I'm looking forward to getting a little pleasure out of his mother, that delicious redhead. What did the Boss say her name was?'

"And the blonde slasher chick replies 'Delilah Ketchum.'"

Ash clenched his fist so hard and so quickly that he crushed his metal coffee mug in his hand sending the beverage spurting across his jacket. Misty and Gary both jumped at the sudden movement. Ash dived forward and grabbed Gary by the lapels of his shirt. "You… you are sure about this, Gary?" he asked in horror.

Gary nodded grimly. "I got out of there so fast, Ash," he said. "All I could think of was to find you. I mean… this is Team Rocket we're talking about here. I couldn't possibly handle them myself. But with you… You know how good we are together Ash, we're team supreme!"

Ash nodded. It was all fitting together. "Gary," he finally said, "I've got to discuss this with my friends. Can you wait here for me."

"What is there to discuss?" Gary asked in horror. "Ash, they are going to level our town! God knows what they'll do to our families! We've got to go _now!_"

"Gary, I said _wait_," Ash shouted. 

Gary reeled back, his face pale with terror. "Okay, man," he said, gesturing placatingly, "okay…"

***

"You are going to do_ what_?" James asked, his voice rising to an amazed squeak.

"Ash you can't," Jessie said urgently. "Even if this isn't a trap, then they are still ready for you to turn up!"

"So what are you suggesting, Jessie?" Ash asked angrily. "That I just sit here and wait for them to do to my home and family what they did to James' home and family?" James tensed right up and his face lost all hint of expression and he almost fell over. Ash grabbed him. "Oh God, James I'm sorry," Ash said gently. "I had no right to bring it up…"

"No…" James snapped. "No, you are right Ash, you can't turn your back on your home and family." James straightened and looked his friend in the eye. "That is why I'm coming too."

"And me," Misty snapped. Jessie, Brock and Joy were only seconds behind in their own affirmation.

"Guys," Ash raised his hands. "I appreciate this, but I am not looking for volunteers." When everyone quietened down, Ash continued. "Remember Sabrina's vision: the betrayal. I don't know what form that will take but, as Jessie says, this whole attack on Pallet is very likely just a trap to get us. I can't believe that Butch and Cassidy would be so stupid to be standing around in a public bar boasting about what they were about to do. They must have been tracking Gary and wanted to use him as bait or something."

"If you know it is a trap, they why are you going?" Misty asked in a desperate tone of voice.

"Because I can't turn my back on all those innocent people," Ash replied gently. "But I can't risk all of you because of this. I want the rest of you to keep up your operations, keep up the pressure on Team Rocket. If all goes well, I will be back in a few days at the most."

Misty blinked furiously, trying to keep the tears out of her eyes, but she failed. "Damn it, Ash," she choked, "why do you have to be so blasted heroic all the time?"

Ash grinned and shrugged. "It's just me, I guess," he said. He leaned forward and kissed her gently. "You know I have to do this, don't you?" A note of pleading entered his tone.

"I do, but…" Misty shook her head, her wonderful strong spirit poking through her grief. "Ash if you get yourself killed, I won't ever talk to you again, you get that?"

Ash laughed. "Don't worry, Misty," he said. "No matter how you look at it, I don't think death is my destiny quite yet."

"Ash is right," Brock suddenly announced. Ash turned and grinned at his friend in thanks. "I don't like it," Brock admitted, "but he is right that this is probably a trap. If he does not respond, then who knows how Team Rocket would respond to not getting its' prize? In any case, he can't risk the rest of us. Assuming Sabrina's vision is correct…"

"_Assuming…?_" Sabrina asked in disgust.

"Assuming it is correct," Brock continued as if the blond psychic had not spoken, "then Ash's betrayal and the destruction of Pallet seem to be the only events that are not somehow conditional on his actions. The only think he can do is respond."

"Thanks, man," Ash replied. He turned back to his closest associates. "Misty," he said to his lover, "I'm putting you in charge until I get back. Give 'em hell."

There was a long surprised pause. "Me?" Misty asked. "Ash, I don't think so. I'm not up to this job!"

"You are a leader," Ash replied, "I know that much. On occasion, you have even led me!"

Misty laughed. "That's true," she admitted. "Be careful, Ash."

"Hey, it's me," Ash replied with his usual cocky smile. Perhaps only Misty saw the fear in his eyes.

"Are you sure I can't convince you to let me and Jessie come with you?" James asked quietly. Ash shook his head. James' eyes began to mist up a little. "Then I'll just wish you the best of fortune, Ash," he concluded quietly.

"Gary!" Ash shouted. His cousin looked up.

"Yeah, man?"

"We're heading back home," Ash told him. He saw Gary sag with an almost comical relief.

After a few minutes, Ash had changed back into his 'civvies' of black tee shirt, blue and white sports jacket and blue jeans. He had a Pokébelt on with Charizard, Venusaur, Wartortle, Pidgeot and Kadabra. He shouldered his pack and walked over to Gary. As the other Thunderbolts watched, Ash released Charizard and leapt to the red dragon's shoulder. He pulled his cousin up behind him.

"Ash!" Misty suddenly shouted. She ran over and touched his leg, looking up at him desperately. "I love you," she whispered.

Ash smiled down at her his devotion to her shining from his eyes. "I know," he said. "Let's go, Charizard!"

"CHAAAARRRRR!" Charizard roared and launched himself into the air.

***

Pretty soon, Ash and Gary were racing for Pallet in Gary's bright red Lamborghini Diablo. In a Diablo, that means 215 mph. No Security Police vehicle in existence could even get close, let alone give the two Trainers from Pallet Town a ticket. "Tell me again how the hell you got this machine," Ash asked over the howl of the V12 supercharged monster in the back.

Gary laughed hollowly. "It's easy when your grandpa owns the biggest bunch of Pokémon patents on Earth," he reminded Ash. "The Pokédex? The Super- and Ultra-type Pokéballs? The teleportation network all the Pokémon Centres use? They're all his. My monthly allowance is, like, four figures. I've got to figure out some ways to spend it."

"Why don't you rub your money in my face a little more Gary?" Ash asked. "I still don't feel inadequate enough."

Gary laughed hollowly. "Don't be jealous, Ash," he said quietly. "I would kill to have money of my own and not have to rely on his charity." 

Ash gave his cousin a worried look. Gary sounded almost bitter. Admittedly, life hadn't really gone his way. There was no doubt that Gary was technically the better trainer. He had a better grasp of the theory and practice of Pokémon Training than Ash ever would have. Unfortunately, that is as far as it went. Gary had no instinct for Pokémon and could not motivate them to like him. Because they wouldn't take risks on his behalf, he found it much harder to succeed in the Leagues. Then there was Ash, who had his strange talent with Pokémon. Whenever Gary seemed likely to win a major championship, Ash always seemed to be in the way. And there was one Trainer Gary could not beat, seemingly could never beat, and certainly had never beaten in one competitive match in six years: Ash Ketchum.

Ash shook his head and turned away from Gary's problems. Frankly, other people's problems had to take precedence right now. He pulled out his mobile phone and called Professor Oak at his labs.

"_Hello?_"

"Professor, it's Ash."

"_Ash! What a surprise! To what do I owe this call?_"

"Professor, I don't have the time to go into details. Gary and I are on our way to Pallet right now. We have reason to believe Team Rocket is going to attack the town in an attempt to get to me."

"_My goodness!_" There was a long pause and Ash could hear some movement in the background. "_I suspected something like this might happen, Ash. I have developed a defence grid for our town that will stop any unauthorised Pokémon from approaching us and should give us plenty of warning about any conventional attack. I will activate it immediately. How soon should we expect you back?_"

Ash turned to Gary. "Gary, how soon will we be in Pallet?"

"Tell them thirty minutes," Gary said. "I want to stop off at that bar first, see if we can pick up any clues."

Ash nodded. "Thirty minutes, Professor."

"_Very well, thank you for the warning, Ash. I will see you shortly._"

***

Ash and Gary were standing in the parking lot of the Viridian Roadside Diner; an extremely misleading name for what was obviously truckers' bar. Ash had to admit that this was the sort of rough spot Butch and Cassidy _would _frequent. "Did you see any unusual vehicles in the parking lot when you were here a few days ago?" Ash asked.

Gary shook his head. "Nah, but those two Rockets weren't even in uniform when I saw them," he said. "I'm guessing Team Rocket has been building up its' forces by sending people into the area under cover."

Ash frowned. That was hardly normal Team Rocket tactics. The organisation was proud of its' identity and status and its' agents paraded around in full uniform even in the middle of major cities. 'Under cover' wasn't psychologically right for one of Giovanni's plans. His father had an obsession with scale and drama that made him love using massive numbers of uniformed troops and Pokémon. No, something was wrong. "Gary, that doesn't scan right," Ash said quietly. "Can you describe those two people again. Make it detailed this time."

Gary rolled his eyes. "Look, Ash, I don't know any Team Rocket agents like you do. I can only tell you what I saw and heard."

"Well, maybe," Ash allowed. "But I think…"

"Prepare for trouble!"

"Oh… SHIT!"

"And make it double!"

"To infect the world with devastation!"

"To blight all peoples of every nation!"

"To denounce the lies of truth and love,"

"To extend our wrath to the stars above!"

"Butch,"

"Cassidy,"

"Team Rocket, circling Earth at the speed of light!"

"Surrender or die in the fight!"

Ash saw Butch and Cassidy, resplendent in their Black field agents' uniforms, standing at the edge of the woods. About a half-dozen White Rockets and nearly fifty Dan'in fighters, all armed to the teeth and accompanied by several large Pokémon were emerging from the forest behind them. "Gary, fall back towards the bar," Ash instructed. "Charizard, I choose you!"

Charizard emerged with a defiant roar. Instead of a direct attack, Ash had him lay down a flame wall. The heat made the Rockets reel back. An Arcanine leapt through the flames and charged at the two young men. "Go Umbreon!" Gary shouted. His first and best Pokémon emerged and faced the Arcanine. "Hyper Beam!"

[Eat this, sucker!"] Umbreon snarled. The force bolt struck the charging Arcanine in the centre of the head and the giant fire wolf collapsed unconscious.

It seemed for a split second that Ash and Gary would hold their attackers back. Then a Blastoise scored a direct hit on Charizard and Ash was forced to withdraw him from the battle. A Tauros used its' powerful thunder butt attack on the ground, the shock-wave throwing Ash, Gary and Umbreon off of their feet.

"He's mine!" Butch shouted, releasing his Drowzee. 

Ash noticed something unpleasant. Cassidy's classical beauty was gone. Her hair was streaked with grey and there was looseness about her face that reminded him of how people who had suffered a stroke sometimes looked. _Raichu's unrestrained Thunder attack when they murdered Tracey must have done that to her_, Ash realised. He shuddered when he realised that, for the first time, he had permanently maimed someone in his struggle against his father.

Ash had no time to worry about this now. He released Kadabra and had him use Confusion on Drowzee. The Team Rocket psi-type had been concentrating on Umbreon, so the counter-strike took him by surprise. He staggered, unable to respond to his Trainer's furious orders. Ash had Kadabra lift Drowzee of the ground telekinetically and flung him into a charging Team Rocket Blastoise. Both Pokémon went down in a tangle of limbs.

"Thanks, Man," Gary called with a wave. He decided Umbreon had had enough, so he recalled him and released his own Arcanine. "Okay, Arcanine, use Fire Wall and keep it up. I want those creeps held back!"

[Gotcha, Boss!]

A Scyther landed in front of Kadabra. "Psychic Storm!" Ash ordered. Kadabra concentrated and unleashed a massive psionic attack that blew the Scyther back into the woods, already unconscious. Unfortunately, the attack left Kadabra vulnerable for a few seconds, and that was all the time it took for Butch's Parasect to envelop him with a cloud of choking Poison Powder.

Ash grimaced and swapped the stunned Kadabra for Venusaur. A hail of razor leaves sent the Team Rocket agents reeling back. Then Ash had Venusaur grab the TR Tauros in her vine whips and bash him against the road until he fainted.

"Raichu, take out that Parasect!" Ash ordered. Raichu leapt into the air and used Thunderbolt on the crab-like bug/poison-type, knocking it unconscious. "Good job, now use Thunder Wave!"

"Rai-ai-chu, Raichu-chu-ai-chu, Rai-ai," [Right away, but I don't think it will hold them, Ash,] Raichu said sceptically. Still he complied. Raichu generated a wide wave of electrical charge that flowed forward and sent the Team Rocket goons stumbling away, shouting in pain and twitching. However, Raichu was right, they quickly recovered and began to move forward again.

As Ash watched, Butch's Drowzee used Hypnosis to knock out Venusaur. Another Rocket used his Staryu to put out Arcanine's Fire Wall. "I think we are outgunned here," Gary suggested, his face streaked with sweat.

"Agreed, I'll generate a distraction and you get the car," Ash instructed. "Raichu, use Thunder Storm," Ash ordered.

Raichu jumped forward and somersaulted, generating a massive electrical discharge. The discharge flashed out in a fan of lightning bolts, striking both Rockets and Pokémon, including Cassidy's Raticate, who was trying to flank the two young men from Pallet Town. The normal-type howled in agony and collapsed. 

His howl of pain was eclipsed by Cassidy's scream of fury when she realised Ash had hurt her favourite Pokémon. "Electrode, I choose you!" Cassidy shouted out. "Use Self Destruct!"

The electric-type Pokémon lofted towards Ash and Gary and detonated in between them. Ash's whole world turned to pain for a second. When he recovered his senses, he was in the ruins of the bar. A wall panel had collapsed on him, trapping him against the ground.

[Ash!] Raichu said. The little electric squirrel ran up and began tugging at his friend, trying to pull him free.

"It's no use, buddy," Ash whispered. "Don't let yourself be captured." Ash could hear Butch and Cassidy's voices as they directed a search for him. He was probably only seconds from capture himself.

[I won't abandon you, Ash,] Raichu said angrily.

Ash laughed and reached out to stroke Raichu's soft furry cheeks. "You were always my closest and best friend, Raichu," he replied. "You were always there on the darkest nights to help me. Now you must help yourself. Run. Get away."

Raichu was furious and terrified at the same time. He shook his head. [I will not leave you!]

Ash shook his head. "You must, Raichu," he said gently, his voice filled with love. "I'm sorry about this, but I hope you will understand why I'm doing this in time. Tell Misty that I will always love her, okay?" 

Raichu stepped back, sensing what Ash intended, but it was too late. "Raichu, return," Ash commanded. The electric-type's rarely used Super-type Pokéball's recall laser flashed and Raichu was disassembled into a matter stream held in a laser containment grid. The Pokéball locked shut and Ash looked at it for a moment. "Sorry buddy," he said gently. Then he put the ball onto his belt. He took out his Pokédex and pressed a button to activate the distress beacon Richie had installed and then put it back on his belt. Ash then pulled off his Pokébelt and used his feet to drive it deep under the wooden wall.

"Hey!" shouted a voice. "He's over here!"

There was a pause as the Team Rocket agents gathered. Butch sneered down at Ash. "Well, well," he sneered. "The mighty leader of Team Thunderbolt trapped like a rat. Any last words, Twerp?"

"Yeah," Ash said with a confident smirk. He used his free arm to gesture at Cassidy's ruined face. "Your girlfriend should fire her plastic surgeon." Butch's face twisted with fury and he kicked Ash in the face. Ash tasted blood and decided he would probably lose a couple of teeth after that blow. He smiled still, knowing that by provoking Butch to violence he had won a victory of sorts.

"Hey!" Cassidy said. "Don't let him provoke you, Butch." Cassidy, who was accompanied by her Vileplume, leaned down and ran a caressing hand over Ash's face. "We are going to have so much fun together, you and I," she purred in a sensual way. "I'm sure you'll never forget it." She stood up. "Vileplume. Stun Spore."

A cloud of soporific particles exploded around Ash's face and consciousness faded.

***

Team Thunderbolt stood helplessly, looking around at the debris of the bar. "Here it is!" Lance called. His Golem lifted the wall out of the way and Misty ran forward to pick up Ash's Pokébelt. She clutched the belt to herself and tried to think. She hadn't given any hint of her torment yet, but it could only be a matter of time.

"This is all my fault…" Gary said in a quiet and lost voice. "If I hadn't stopped off here… or if I had fought better… they would never have got him!"

"You can't blame yourself, Gary," James said gently, touching his shoulder. "They must have been planning this for weeks."

"That doesn't make me feel much better," Gary said in a bitter tone of self-reproach.

"There is no sign of him," Richie said. He had just returned from an aerial sweep on the back of Tempest, his Dragonite. "If Butch used his Drowzee to teleport him away, they could be on the other side of the world by now."

Misty nodded gently. "Good work, Richie," she said quietly. "Sabrina do you have anything?"

Sabrina shook his head. "Psionics aren't an exact science, Misty," she said. "And if Ash is unconscious, I wouldn't be able to detect his mind if he was sitting right next to me."

Misty nodded again, her expression unreadable. She frowned and pulled a Pokéball off of the belt. It was one she had never seen with the 'In Use' light showing. "Raichu…" she whispered. "Raichu, I choose you!" she said loudly, throwing the ball.

Raichu materialised in the middle of the wreckage. [Ash! No, don't… Oh no, he has been taken… oh no.] The little electric rodent sagged down and began to cry helplessly, all the strength going out of him in an instant.

"Raichu, what happened," Misty said.

[Misty?] he asked, looking up through his tears. [Misty, it was horrible. There were just so many of them! We fought but we couldn't win. Ash put me in my ball rather than risk me being captured.]

"Typical Ash," Gary said quietly. "Worrying more about his Pokémon than his own hide."

Misty nearly exploded. "You piece of shit!" she yelled. "This is _all_ your fault! Now get out of here. Go to Pallet and make sure that they know how badly you've screwed up!" Gary backed away nervously. "GET OUT!" Misty screamed. Gary nearly went yellow with fear. He leapt into his car and drove away as fast as he could.

"Misty…" Joy said gently, walking forward and touching her shoulder.

"Don't say it, Joy," Misty warned.

"Don't explode, Misty," Brock said sharply. "It won't do anyone any good."

"You're right," Misty said, her voice level. "So we are going to act instead. We will interrogate every Rocket we find. We will carve open every base, every gym and every safe house. We will smash Team Rocket piece by piece until Ash is free."

"We will find him," Duplicia promised. "Besides," she added with a hollow laugh. "Knowing Ash, he is probably working on his escape now."

Misty smiled gently and nodded. The Thunderbolts began to file away. Misty held Ash's Pokébelt to her breast for a long moment before suddenly screaming out to the heavens, a lost soul.

***

Ash blinked furiously, trying to clear his vision. For some reason, his arms were above his head. He tugged and realised he was tied to some kind of overhead bar. He was standing on his feet, but his posture made it impossible to relax without nearly pulling his own arms out of their sockets.

"Wakey, wakey, hero," snarled a grating voice. A hand slapped across his face. Ash's vision cleared at last and he saw Butch and Cassidy standing there, looking excessively smug.

"Oh, you two again," Ash said in a gentle mocking tone. "Don't you think this whole thing is getting old already?"

Butch snorted. "Oh no," Cassidy said with a sadistic smirk, "we haven't even started having fun yet. Mr. Ketchum, you are now the guest of Team Rocket. Butch and I are going to be your hosts. I am sure you will find it an unforgettable experience!"

"If you are my hosts," Ash said with a grin, "then I want to complain about the room service. Additionally I _hate_ the 'metal walled dungeon' look! It is _so_ passé!"

"I have had enough of his lip…" Butch hissed, taking a step forward. Cassidy stopped him with a gesture.

"Ash, you are a lucky man," she announced. "For some reason, the Boss doesn't want you dead anymore. However, he does want your… attitude adjusted. That is going to be our task, and our pleasure over the next few weeks."

Ash spat at Cassidy, the only defiance that was possible at the time. Cassidy growled and wiped the spit from her face. Butch stepped forward and drove a pile driver punch into Ash's guts. Ash would have liked to fold double, but being tied at full stretch made that impossible. It doubled his pain. For a long moment he couldn't see or hear and was only aware of the agony in his abdomen.

"Enough!" Cassidy hissed. She walked forward and lifted Ash's head with a finger on his chin. "I am going to enjoy this Ash," she said. She was so close that Ash could see her maimed face very clearly indeed. "I owe you a lot of pain, Ash Ketchum, and from this moment on, I am going to pay my debts."

Cassidy drew a nasty thin-bladed knife from her boot. She used it to slice off Ash's shirt. Then she nodded to Butch, who threw a bucket of water over the young man.

Cassidy turned around. "You seem to like using electricity on Team Rocket," she remarked lightly. "Let's see if you like it in return."

Ash's eyes widened as he saw Cassidy lift up a pair of jump-start cables attached to what was probably the dungeon's power system. Held in the crocodile clips was steel wool. Cassidy brushed it together and there was a hot shower of sparks. "_Do_ you like electricity dear?" she asked again as she stepped forward.

__

To be continued…


	4. Pain and Dreams

**__**

PoKéMoN

Avenger – by Ben Russell-Gough

****

Legal Disclaimer

Pokémon, the Pocket Monsters and their human friends and enemies are all the sole copyright and trademark property of Nintendo Entertainment, Game Freak Software and 4 Kids Productions. No breach of any copyright or legal property is intended.

****

Author's Notes

This is my first Pokémon fic. I _still _don't know all the monsters or the moves, so please forgive me if I get something glaringly wrong. I can only base my work on the little I've seen of the cartoon. 

I want to take this opportunity to thank all the other Fanfiction.NET authors for providing plenty of information, feedback and honest advice. It has made my work much better and more satisfying to read, I think. Special thanks must go to Charles 'Rocketboy' Reilly, Wind, Chuchino, Joshua Falken and Catalina Storm for their invaluable detailed feedback.

Oh, about the Sabrina bit. I know it isn't really part of the story, but I was thinking about the character and sort of felt sorry for her. Anyway, I just wanted to showcase the character a bit. Forgive me if it spoils your reading enjoyment.

Text in [squared-off brackets] is translated Pokémon talk.

Text in _Italics_ but not in quotes indicates thought or telepathic communication.

This is an **Alternate Universe** fic.

Ages: Ash is 17; Misty has just turned 19; Brock is 25; Jessie and James are both 24; Richie is 17; Duplicia is 18; Sabrina is 20; Lance is 16; Joy is 29.

****

Censor: R (Equivalent to UK '15' Certificate)

Content Warning: Swearing, violence and implied torture/rape

****

Book 2 – Team Rocket Strikes Back

__

What has gone before…

It is a time of conflict. Six months ago, League Supreme Champion Ash Ketchum and a band of allies formed a new band of crusading Pokémon Trainers known as 'Team Thunderbolt.' Together, these young heroes have been launching ever more bold strikes against the forces of Team Rocket, the dreaded international terrorist organisation controlled by Ash's father, Giovanni diRocketti.

Although successful, Team Thunderbolt are fighting a battle against time, trying to find the vulnerability in the structure of Team Rocket that they can exploit to destroy their mighty enemy before either the power of Team Rocket or the disturbed forces of law and order catch up with them. In the midst of this struggle, however, an unknown betrayer has acted and given Team Rocket the advantage in the war. He has betrayed Ash Ketchum, possibly the greatest Pokémon Trainer of all time into their hands. 

***

Ash blinked furiously, trying to clear his vision. For some reason, his arms were above his head. He tugged and realised he was tied to some kind of overhead bar. He was standing on his feet, but his posture made it impossible to relax without nearly pulling his own arms out of their sockets.

"Wakey, wakey, hero," snarled a grating voice. A hand slapped across his face. Ash's vision cleared at last and he saw Butch and Cassidy standing there, looking excessively smug.

"Oh, you two again," Ash said in a gentle mocking tone. "Don't you think this whole thing is getting old already?"

Butch snorted. "Oh no," Cassidy said with a sadistic smirk, "we haven't even started having fun yet. Mr. Ketchum, you are now the guest of Team Rocket. Butch and I are going to be your hosts. I am sure you will find it an unforgettable experience!"

"If you are my hosts," Ash said with a grin, "then I want to complain about the room service. Additionally I _hate_ the 'metal walled dungeon' look! It is _so_ passé!"

"I have had enough of his lip…" Butch hissed, taking a step forward. Cassidy stopped him with a gesture.

"Ash, you are a lucky man," she announced. "For some reason, the Boss doesn't want you dead anymore. However, he does want your… attitude adjusted. That is going to be our task, and our pleasure over the next few weeks."

Ash spat at Cassidy, the only defiance that was possible at the time. Cassidy growled and wiped the spit from her face. Butch stepped forward and drove a pile driver punch into Ash's guts. Ash would have liked to fold double, but being tied at full stretch made that impossible. It doubled his pain. For a long moment he couldn't see or hear and was only aware of the agony in his abdomen.

"Enough!" Cassidy hissed. She walked forward and lifted Ash's head with a finger on his chin. "I am going to enjoy this Ash," she said. She was so close that Ash could see her maimed face very clearly indeed. "I owe you a lot of pain, Ash Ketchum, and from this moment on, I am going to pay my debts."

Cassidy drew a nasty thin-bladed knife from her boot. She used it to slice off Ash's shirt. Then she nodded to Butch, who threw a bucket of water over the young man.

Cassidy turned around. "You seem to like using electricity on Team Rocket," she remarked lightly. "Let's see if you like it in return."

Ash's eyes widened as he saw Cassidy lift up a pair of jump-start cables attached to what was probably the dungeon's power system. Held in the crocodile clips was steel wool. Cassidy brushed it together and there was a hot shower of sparks. "_Do_ you like electricity dear?" she asked again as she stepped forward.

***

Team Thunderbolt stood helplessly, looking around at the debris of the bar. "Here it is!" Lance called. His Golem lifted the wall out of the way and Misty ran forward to pick up Ash's Pokébelt. She clutched the belt to herself and tried to think. She hadn't given any hint of her torment yet, but it could only be a matter of time.

"This is all my fault…" Gary said in a quiet and lost voice. "If I hadn't stopped off here… or if I had fought better… they would never have got him!"

"You can't blame yourself, Gary," James said gently, touching his shoulder. "They must have been planning this for weeks."

"That doesn't make me feel much better," Gary said in a bitter tone of self-reproach.

"There is no sign of him," Richie said. He had just returned from an aerial sweep on the back of Tempest, his Dragonite. "If Cassidy used her Drowzee to teleport him away, they could be on the other side of the world by now."

Misty nodded gently. "Good work, Richie," she said quietly. "Sabrina do you have anything?"

Sabrina shook his head. "Psionics aren't an exact science, Misty," she said. "And if Ash is unconscious, I wouldn't be able to detect his mind if he was sitting right next to me."

Misty nodded again, her expression unreadable. She frowned and pulled a Pokéball off of the belt. It was one she had never seen with the 'In Use' light showing. "Raichu…" she whispered. "Raichu, I choose you!" she said loudly, throwing the ball.

Raichu materialised in the middle of the wreckage. [Ash! No, don't… Oh no, he has been taken… oh no.] The little electric rodent sagged down and began to cry helplessly, all the strength going out of him in an instant.

"Raichu, what happened," Misty said.

[Misty?] he asked, looking up through his tears. [Misty, it was horrible. There were just so many of them! We fought but we couldn't win. Ash put me in my ball rather than risk me being captured.]

"Typical Ash," Gary said quietly. "Worrying more about his Pokémon than his own hide."

Misty nearly exploded. "You piece of shit!" she yelled. "This is _all_ your fault! Now get out of here. Go to Pallet and make sure that they know how badly you've screwed up!" Gary backed away nervously. "GET OUT!" Misty screamed. Gary nearly went yellow with fear. He leapt into his car and drove away as fast as he could.

"Misty…" Joy said gently, walking forward and touching her shoulder.

"Don't say it, Joy," Misty warned.

"Don't explode, Misty," Brock said sharply. "It won't do anyone any good."

"You're right," Misty said, her voice level. "So we are going to act instead. We will interrogate every Rocket we find. We will carve open every base, every gym and every safe house. We will smash Team Rocket piece by piece until Ash is free."

"We will find him," Duplicia promised. "Besides," she added with a hollow laugh. "Knowing Ash, he is probably working on his escape now."

Misty smiled gently and nodded. The Thunderbolts began to file away. Misty held Ash's Pokébelt to her breast for a long moment before suddenly screaming out to the heavens, a lost soul.

__

And now the continuation…

****

Chapter 4 – Pain and Dreams

As Misty screamed in the ruins of the bar, the image of her torment was captured by a miniaturised digital video camera carried by a Fearow, which was soaring through the air far above her. The camera was transmitting the signal live to a pirated communications satellite some 40,000 miles above in geostationary orbit. The satellite beamed the signal down to a small island in the Southern Sea.

Once, the island had been called New Island, then, for a short time, it was know as Mew Island. No one calls it anything anymore. Indeed, most people aren't even aware that it exists. Every record, every image and every _memory_ of the existence of this place had been purged. Are these extreme measures? Perhaps, but the new lord of this isle has come to value his privacy. 

Once, Mew Island had been the home of a state-of-the-art cloning facility operated by a cover company controlled by the Team Rocket organisation. That facility, and the hapless specialists who manned it, are all gone now. In its place is a huge conical palace of black iron and glass. Look at this fortress and you will realise that there is something _wrong_ about the place. The shapes and angles were… _inhuman_. Indeed, there is very little 'human' about this place. And nothing at all 'human' about its' owner.

A sophisticated computer system received the signal from the Fearow's camera and assigned it high priority out of the hundreds of thousands of signals (some from other spy cameras and some from public and private broadcasters). All of these were fed into one room: The Great Sanctum of the lord of Mew Island. There, surrounded by literally thousands of LCD TV screens, he sat, watching the affairs of the world he had foresworn, waiting for the sign.

Directly in front of his large, comfortable chair, was an image of Misty Waterflower, screaming her torment. There was no voice, but rather a _presence_ that spoke without words into the silence of the room. _Such pain, young human_, the Watcher said to himself. _The Chosen One is truly the other half of your soul. Can you survive without him? Should you even try?_

The Watcher observed as events unfolded. Misty was stronger than many realised and she quickly took up the necessary reins of power. The power of Team Thunderbolt, such as it was, was deployed to search more effectively for its' missing leader. _She is truly strong_, the Watcher decided. He watched as a Team Rocket field team was quickly and efficiently captured. _She, too, has great potential, should she desire to harness it. Still, hers is an impossible quest_. Even as the Watcher thought those words, the captured Rockets were handed over to the Security Police. They knew nothing.

The Watcher observed for a few more minutes… or perhaps they were days? In the isolation of the Great Sanctum, time often took on new and unique meanings. _No, it is not coincidence,_ the Watcher decided. _She has a power too. I must learn what is happening and why. Joy!_

After a long moment, the main entrance opened and a tall woman in a Slavic dress with kind green eyes and long red hair that hung loosely to the level of her hips entered. "What is thy bidding, my Master?" Joy Anderson, formerly the Head Nurse at the Vermilion City Pokémon Centre asked her new employer.

__

Joy, I need some information about Misty Waterflower, currently registered as a Trainer in the Indigo Division, the Watcher said thoughtfully. _I especially require the DNA profile that was taken at her birth nineteen years ago_.

"Of course sir," Joy replied smartly. "I'll have a Porygon sent to extract the data immediately." Joy was about to turn to leave, but she felt her master's telekinetic hand hold her firmly to the spot. "Is there anything else, sir?" she asked without any hint of surprise or dismay. She was used to this psychic manhandling by now.

__

If what I suspect is true, the Watcher said quietly, _then I will be drawn to act very soon. We need to find out where Team Rocket has taken Ash Ketchum_.

There was a long pause. "Sir, you know that you cannot directly interfere…" Joy began lamely.

A strange, wordless laughter filled Joy's mind, making her feel euphoric. She smiled stupidly for a few seconds before regaining control of her emotions. _No, not direct interference_, the Watcher announced jovially. _That would be a violation of our agreement _and _it would be counter-productive. No there are other ways, better ways._

"I defer to your greater experience in these matters, sir," Joy said with a slight smirk. Her new boss (and probably the most shockingly sensual lover she had ever had) was a master manipulator of perceptions and minds. No doubt he would find some way to do whatever he felt was necessary without anyone even guessing who or what he was. "Is there anything else?" she asked.

__

Joy… the Watcher said with a smile. _Please join me._ He raised his right hand and beckoned his assistant over with one of his three bulbous fingers. Joy walked over and joined the Watcher in the centre of the Great Sanctum. She looked down into that strange, terrifyingly alien face. But there was truth in the saying that 'the eye is the window of the soul.' In those eyes she saw such love, such compassion and such _humanity_, that she was always reassured. Her master was a kind being who had dedicated his existence to the service and protection of all intelligent life on Earth, and it was a cause she had gladly adopted herself.

If she had any doubts about him or his cause, it was swept away when he healed her mind and allowed her to remember their first association. In a bizarre alternate past the one who now was a Watcher, motivated by rage, had kidnapped and enslaved her. He used her as a tool in his vicious attempt to destroy the human race. Only at the very last moment, thanks to the sacrifice of one little boy, did he see reason and find salvation. His willingness to admit to this dark past, and his utter openness about how he bitterly regretted his previous abuse of her mind and body, convinced her that this was a being she could trust. And ultimately, he was a being she could love. "Is there anything I can do for you, sir?" she asked gently, smiling down at him.

__

Joy, we've been working together for five years now, the Watcher said with an air of exasperation. _Do you think you might see your way clear to address me by my name whilst on duty? Surely with what we have shared, you feel that comfortable with me._

Joy laughed. "I just love treating you as the 'man-of-mystery,'" she explained. The Watcher rolled his expressive grey eyes in disbelief. Joy laughed again and leaned forward to place a passionate kiss on her master's short grey snout. He responded with a telekinetic caress that made her gasp in pleasure. She stood and nodded to him. "If you prefer, I'll use your name from now on, even if it does freak Todd out."

The Watcher nodded with a rueful smile. _Thank you for this small mercy_, he commented._ Besides, I can think of only a few things about you and me that does _not_ freak Snap out_

"Tell me about it," Joy agreed. "I'll send Porygon on his way, Mewtwo."

Mewtwo nodded thoughtfully as Joy left the room and turned back to the myriad screens from where he watched an entire world.

***

"It's no good, Misty," Sabrina said in some frustration. "They are blocking me."

"Is that possible?" Misty asked the blonde psychic in some anger.

Sabrina snorted in a good-natured fashion and looked at the two White Rockets that Lance and James had tied to a couple of trees. "Just about," she said. "If you fill your conscious-level mind with nonsense, it is possible to drown out your subconscious thought patterns. These two have been obviously trained to do that, they're actually trying to do long division in their heads." Sabrina paused and looked at one of the men. "You forgot to carry the five," she called out to him.

Misty sagged slightly. "This is the sixth washout we've had," she said to herself. "Two weeks and we are still checkmated. None of them are talking." Misty shuddered and fought down an urge to pull out her pocket knife and cut the information she wanted out of those… _shits_ one scream at a time. She wouldn't, though. That was the way Ash's father had gone and look what had happened to him…

"Are you okay, Misty?" Sabrina asked gently. Sabrina was shocked by what she sensed next. She expected the tears tracking down the girl's face, but not the surging self-destructive hopelessness in her heart. "Don't give up, Misty," Sabrina said. "I am sure that Ash will live and that you will be with him again."

"Yes," Misty replied, "but at what cost?" All she could think of was the end of Sabrina's vision. Her and Ash, older and in a position of power, about to launch a war of conquest against the whole world. She would die before she became a thing of evil… or would she? What compromises would she be willing to make to be with Ash? _Damn you, Ketchum,_ she shouted silently. _Why does loving you have to hurt like this?_

Misty whirled and fled. Sabrina was about to follow, but Brock blocked her way. "She'll be okay, Sabrina," he assured her.

"Are you certain?" Sabrina asked.

Brock smiled. "She is still shaken by all of this, but I am sure she will be all right." Sabrina nodded gently and walked away. Brock, too, remembered the shocking ending of the vision. But he was surer of the moral integrity his two friends than even they were. They would never succumb to evil. Whatever the future held, it did not involve an Ash and Misty turned to the path of darkness. At least he _hoped _so with all of his heart. A future where such a fall had taken place was not one he wanted to live in.

Yes, Ash would survive, Brock decided. He _had_ to, or there was no future for the human race at all…

***

Ash screamedout loud. Around him, lights flashed and a penetrating discordant sound made his very bones shake within his flesh. The stroboscopic/sonic barrage known as the 'Armageddon Cascade' was a unique machine designed to totally overload the victim's mind and body, making it impossible to think or control your own muscles. 

Ash wailed in agony as pain utterly beyond his ability to comprehend made his entire being shake. He was no longer sure of who or what he was. All he knew for certain is that he would do anything… _anything _to make the hurting stop. If there was a small core that still had any memory of identity, it was buried very deep and no longer could make itself heard.

If _only_ the green-haired man and the blonde woman would return! Then he could please them and the pain would stop… oh God let the pain stop… let it stop… let it stop… 

Ash wept with the agony and felt strangely relieved when he realised he couldn't control his bladder or sphincter any more. That was two less body functions to give him pain. If only it would stop…

All he had to do, the blonde one had told him, was decide to join them and dedicate his whole mind, heart and soul to their cause. All he would have to do was press the switch they had placed in his hand. Then, they promised, the pain would stop and they would take him to another place far from the pain and help him start a new life.

He wanted to press the switch… He _had_ to press the switch, but he knew he wouldn't… 

One thing stopped him. A word. He could no longer understand what it meant or why it should make him want to keep experiencing the pain, but he did know that it was the most important thing in his existence, and that was enough.

"_Misty!_" he screamed, his voice drowned out by random sound, as urine and liquid shit flowed freely down his legs, blood leaked from where he had driven his fingernails into the palms of his hands and the Armageddon Cascade continued to flash and roar…

***

Sabrina sagged to the ground in front of her tent and tried to force out of her mind the pain and worry that everyone in the camp was loudly broadcasting. At times like this, Sabrina very much wished to wrap herself in oblivion and never come out. The continual babble of others' emotions and thoughts made her want to scream…

__

Misty is really cut up about this… Hey, I can understand that, I've got a soft spot for Ash too…

I've got to keep her holding together… Ash is going to be okay, but he'll never forgive me if she comes apart…

Ash! Where are you? Please be all right…

They've gone too far… Butch and Cassidy are mine_…_

James, don't despair… James don't fall… James, I love you…

Poor Misty… Still how would I feel if they kidnapped Marina…? Damn Team Rocket…

Meowth… Ferget it… I don't want to be your Top Cat anymore… Meowth…

Eight into three is two… carry the two…

Brock really does care! He is a good guy after all… He handsome too… no, damn it… that was a long time ago…

'I'm Henry the Eighth I am, I am, I'm Henry the Eighth I am…'

Rai-ai… Rai-ai… Rai-ai… Rai-ai…

Sabrina really looks like she's suffering… I wish I could help…

Sabrina opened her eyes suddenly at her unexpected inclusion. Lance Hook was leaning over her. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked. He handed her a herbal tea (she never drank coffee, it made her hyper and a P15 telekinetic being hyper is not a nice thing). "I made you that tea you like, Miss Von Daimen," he continued.

Sabrina accepted the tea gratefully. "Thank you Lance, and my name is 'Sabrina,' remember?"

Lance blushed brightly. He was just a kid from the agricultural interior really, and the incredibly self-confident psychic scared the wits out of him. It didn't help that she exactly fitted his idea of a 'dream girl' and that her powers put her firmly into his 'angel' and 'goddess' categories.

"My Mom always told me that it wasn't polite to be familiar with a girl you hardly know," Lance said, averting his eyes.

Sabrina actually laughed as she sensed the waves of nervousness and suppressed attraction flowing off of the fighting-type master. "Lance, we've been fighting together for three months now, I think we _definitely _know each other."

"Well…" Lance said thoughtfully. "I… I don't think so, Ma'am…" he finally said. "I mean, I don't know anything about you or you about me…"

Sabrina smiled as a very kooky idea popped into her mind. She immediately rejected it as unethical and immature. She decided that she was either still stressed from trying to scan those Rockets, or that it had just been too long since she last had a date. _Hey, blue eyes_, she added to herself, _you have _never_ had a date, just a few guys you put in a trance while you were still trying to be a female Darth Vader_. "Lance," she said out loud to the black haired boy, "it is the late twenty-first century, you know. We can be informal without getting engaged. I would like to know you, and I would like to be your friend."

"And I would like to be your friend," Lance admitted, reeking of nerves. "You are… well you are a pretty lady, Ma'am."

Sabrina blushed and came to a decision. She had got used to being lonely, but being in the camp and sometimes sensing Ash and Misty's, as well as Jessie and James's, frankly _pornographic_ thought patterns when they made love had reawakened a part of her she thought long dead. Now there was Lance, who was sweet, strong, innocent and clearly very attracted to her. She leaned forward and touched the side of Lance's face. The boy jumped and nearly fell over, so she had to grab his arm to hold him. _If you truly feel restrained because we are such strangers,_" she said silently, _I can remedy that._

Lance's eyes opened very wide as he heard Sabrina's thoughts. Sabrina saw the elemental terror in the boy's eyes and released him with a sigh. Once again, she was just the psychic 'freak.' She was a fool to even believe anyone could overcome that barrier. "I'm sorry, Lance," she said sadly. "That was unethical of me and uncalled for. Please… please don't hate me."

Lance tried to think of something to say, but he couldn't. Sabrina turned from him and, sensing that the moment was broken, he left, leaving Sabrina behind to despair quietly. 

***

Ash hung there in the torture chamber and realised that it had been quiet for some time. The Armageddon Cascade had finally ceased some time before and he had been left hanging there, covered in blood, sweat and filth. Somehow, he had survived with his identity and his resolution not to break both intact. He no longer knew how that was possible, but he was grateful.

Ash had very little physical strength anymore. Butch and Cassidy's first real act of torture was to feed him a drug that induced violent vomiting, emptying his digestive tract in record time. While he was being intravenously fed nutrients enough to keep him alive, his body insisted that it was dehydrated and starving. His limbs trembled as if he had palsy and he could no longer focus his senses enough to try and figure a way out of this.

Ash had already decided that he knew what his fate was. He would die eventually. Butch and Cassidy would eventually overdo some act of torture and his abused body would give up, or Giovanni would tire of this and have him executed. What worried him the most was that the likelihood of death no longer worried him. In fact, it would be a sweet release.

"_Ash,_" A voice announced.

Ash looked up and tried to concentrate enough to focus his eyes. A figure stood in the room. It glowed with light as if it was an angel. Ash tried to make out the face, but it was in shadows. The figure wore a stone-coloured Team Rocket uniform. "Who…?" he said hoarsely.

"_Ash, it's me…_" 

Ash knew that voice. "_Giovanni!_" he hissed. "So, why are you here? Come to gloat?" Ash's voice broke at the end of that question and he sagged, unable to even draw on enough strength to be defiant. He began to cry again.

"_Actually I'm not here at all_," Giovanni remarked gently. "_This is a hologram. We're talking by way of a cyber-presence technology one of my legitimate organisations developed. Good, isn't it?_" The hologram did a little pirouette and then laughed smugly. 

"I hope you like your toy," Ash said quietly, trying to put irony and scorn into his voice as he shook all over.

"_My poor little boy,_" Giovanni said. "_You don't know how much I regret that this has been done to you. How dare your mother and my brother fill your heart and mind with so many lies and cause you such pain._"

"What… what are…?"

"_Ash, I am your father. I love you. I always have. And now I'm coming to bring you home. And those two… _villains_ will never hurt you again._"

"No… no they are not the ones who hurt me…"

"_Ash, they have driven you and turned you into a monster!_" Giovanni insisted. "_You are no soldier, but they lied to you and brainwashed you into fighting a war they were too cowardly to fight themselves!_"

"No…" Ash shook his head, trying to clear it and focus on what he knew to be true. That was very difficult after what he had experienced over the last agonising days… weeks… months… maybe even years. "No, they have never lied to me. Why should they?"

"_They lied about me being your father,_" Giovanni reminded him.

That truth frustrated Ash. "They were trying to protect me!" Ash insisted, wishing he had strength enough to shout.

"_Protect you?_" Giovanni said with a derisive laugh. "_They were _afraid _of you, Ash; Afraid of you and your powers. They were afraid of what might happen if I was able to help you to use them to the fullest extent_."

"No… they always helped me…" Ash insisted hollowly.

"_Ash,_" Giovanni said gently, "_listen to me. You are my son, and because of this you have a power beyond that of the rest of the _sheep_ that inhabit this world of ours. Join me, and I will help you master this power. When that happens, I assure you that_ nothing _will be impossible for you. You will take whatever you want and no one will ever hurt you again. Do it, Ash! You are my son!_"

"No," Ash grated. "I will _never_ join you!"

"_Ash, you are my son,_" Giovanni replied. "_Your place has always been at my side. Admit that to yourself! You've always known that you were meant for a greater cause! Why would you have formed your own army of followers if you didn't think what I have done is fundamentally right! You are already Team Rocket_ body and soul!"

"No…"

"_Ash, you and I are so alike,_" Giovanni said gently. "_You are going to grow up just like me. My brother and your mother knew that this would happen. Why else would they have hidden you from me? You will be one who leads and dominates the lesser creatures of this world. I will teach you how to do that and how to sweep all of your enemies aside_."

"_No!_" Ash was gritting his teeth around the pain in his heart now, tears flowing down his cheeks.

Giovanni continued as if Ash had not spoken. "_Ash, as I have said, your place is at my side within the highest reaches of Team Rocket. You have that greatness that others lack. It is not something that you have a choice about. It is your_ destiny."

"NOOOOOOO!"

Giovanni's holographic form seemed to radiate compassion. _"I know that this is a lot for you to take in, son,_" he said_. "I'll let you think for a while. Then I'll come for your final answer._" The hologram disappeared, leaving Ash to weep hopelessly in the dark and the cold.

***

"_I thought I made it clear that I wanted him _broken_!_" Giovanni shouted. Butch and Cassidy leaned away from The Boss's rage. Even though he was talking over the videophone, the threat and anger he was broadcasting filled the communications room with a physical presence that made them very frightened.

"Sir, we're trying!" Butch insisted nervously. "We're hitting him with everything we've got!"

"_Well it isn't enough!_" Giovanni replied. "_I'm going to give you two incompetent idiots just one more day to break that damnable will of his, or _you _will join him in the torture chamber. Have you got that?_"

"Yes sir!" Butch squeaked. Giovanni's image blinked off and Butch sagged. "We're dead," he announced. "The kid is damn near unbreakable! I thought that the Armageddon Cascade would finish him off, but somehow he is still in one piece! Electricity, beatings, psychological tortures and even audio-visual hallucinations of betrayal! He's beaten them all! Hell, he didn't even flinch when we made out we'd captured his bitch and were going to work her over too!"

Cassidy sat there, thinking. "Maybe we've been going about this the wrong way," she said. Butch shot her a strange look. "Look, if the stick doesn't work, maybe we should try the carrot!"

"What?" Butch asked stupidly.

Cassidy rolled her eyes. "Pleasure and pain," she explained. "They are more alike than many know. Maybe we can use that against him."

"How?" Butch wanted to know.

Cassidy smiled in a very dangerous way. "Leave that to me," she said with an evil laugh. "I think that I will be able to _persuade_ Mr. Ketchum without too much effort." She rose to leave, but Butch caught her arm.

"Cassidy, remember that the Boss doesn't want him _permanently_ damaged," he warned.

Cassidy shook him off. "Don't worry, Butch," she said, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "I'm not about to start yet. I've got to think about _what_ I'm going to do first. No, I'm going in to clean him up. We don't want him getting an infection, do we?" Butch frowned and shook his head. He had to admit that was right, anyway. Even so, the way Cassidy laughed as she walked down the companionway made him very, very nervous.

***

Mewtwo was watching two screens of genetic code flash past far more quickly than a human eye could follow. Joy, Todd 'Snap' Marshall (Mewtwo's resident spy) and A. J. Harris (former Pokémon League Trainer and Mewtwo's in-house enforcer) stood beside their master and tried not to feel utterly out-evolved and inadequate.

__

There! Mewtwo replied. _There it is!_ In response to a psychic command, the two screens stopped and backtracked a few pages. _Chromosome forty-five… Ah, yes. I was a fool not to realise this before. This explains everything._ Mewtwo's psychic voice was filled with triumph. _It explains their bond, their abilities and even how she was able to summon him back from the dead! Now that secret lies open for my casual dissection and for such use as I see fit._

"Uh, what does it tell you, Boss?" Snap asked.

Mewtwo turned around, his face twisted with his trademark rueful smile. _Chromosome 45 is the part of human DNA that governs telepsychic powers,_ he explained to the dark-haired photographer. _I was looking for something that explained this curious bond that exists between Ketchum and Waterflower. Now I have found it._

"So they are both telepsychic?" Joy asked.

Mewtwo nodded. _In a very special and specific way_, he confirmed. He gestured at the screen. _Tell me what you see, my friends._

Snap squinted and tried to make sense of what he saw, but it was hopeless. "Uh, it says: 'ATGGGCTTTATTCCGGTTAAACCTAGCCCGTATTT…'"

"Mew-hee-hee-hee!" The three humans were shocked. Mewtwo had actually started laughing out loud, something no one had ever heard before. _No, Snap, that is just the genetic code,_ Mewtwo said, still laughing. _Look, I can see the codes for a special kind of empathy, combined with a very limited precognition and telepathy. In essence, we are looking at the genetic basis of Mr. Ketchum's unusual ability as a Trainer as well as his unique tactical and strategic sense _and_ his ability to lead. It is all here. It is remarkable._

"So… so what?" A.J. asked. "How does this affect our situation?"

__

Look again," Mewtwo advised.

"They're almost identical," Joy said with a gasp. Mewtwo rewarded her with a telekinetic pat on the head.

__

Correct, Mewtwo said. _They both share this unique power… call it the 'Oak Variable,' after the boy's father. He was the first recorded case, after all. Ms. Waterflower's abilities seem more directed towards the empathy end rather than the tactical/leadership end, but she, too, shares these abilities._

A.J. was thinking. "It would explain a lot," he said. "It would explain how she managed to so totally take charge after Ash's kidnapping, _and_ it would explain how she is such a natural with Pokémon and people. You spend time around her and you just feel good."

Todd nodded. "She charms as easily as you breathe. If you are hurt, she can make you feel better with just a touch and a few words."

__

Healing has always been a function of high-order empathy, Mewtwo agreed_. This would also explain why the two are such a spectacular team_.

"And it would explain why they are so important to each other," Joy added gently. "That kind of empathy would link them together. They truly are… _one_."

Mewtwo nodded again. _Ash Ketchum is the Chosen One, the protector of our world and our futures. He is the Guardian, if you will…_ he announced. _But Misty Waterflower's specific abilities make her Chosen in her own way… the one who allows the Guardian to maintain his humanity… the Healer… And together they are far more powerful than their individual parts suggest. They are… _unbreakable_…_

The psychic Pokémon suddenly stood up, rising to his impressive full height. _My agreement with the Maker prevents me from taking direct action,_ he reminded his associates. _Nonetheless there is no agreement that prevents me from indirectly assisting the Chosen One in certain subtle ways. And this proves that Misty Waterflower is as much the Chosen One as her mate. Now, Snap, where is Ash Ketchum?_

"Here," Snap said immediately, handing over a picture. "He's being held on diRocketti's private yacht. They're moored in Fuchsia City Harbour right now, but I'll bet they'll be heading off to Black Island soon."

Mewtwo's eyes narrowed as he considered the picture of the big, beautiful sea-going ship. _Snap, I'm no expert,_ he said uncertainly,_ but I'd swear that there is something wrong about this boat_.

"You'd be right," Snap replied. "It took some time, but I managed to find a few informants who were willing to talk. The ship is actually in two parts. The bulk of it is basically a barge containing espionage and fighting equipment. The front portion is actually a combat hydrofoil. I suppose that diRocketti designed it so that if he were cornered, he could escape on the hydrofoil while the barge stays behind and keeps the opposition occupied."

A.J. laughed. "Hey, just like the boat in that _James Bond_ movie!"

"Yeah," Snap agreed. "And get this, diRocketti must be a Bond fan! He called the damn tub the '_Thunderball_!'" A.J. and Todd laughed in amazement.

__

Mind letting me in on the joke? Mewtwo asked ironically.

"Oh, sorry Boss," Snap said. "There was a series of feature films last century about a secret agent named James Bond. A boat very like this one appeared in one of the earlier films. That film was called _Thunderball_ too."

There was a pause. _Why has no one told me about this series of feature films before? _Mewtwo asked pleasantly. _If there is one correlation, there may be many. I should look into it._

"Boss, forget it," A.J. advised. "It's escapist entertainment! This is just a coincidence. It isn't important."

There was a sudden psychic shock in A.J.'s head like the sound of someone snapping his or her fingers. He stood up straighter and began to sweat. _I will be the sole judge of what is and is not important_, Mewtwo reminded his enforcer. _I want full copies of every release version of these films. I will also require career and personality profiles for all the major cast and production crew immediately._

"Yes… yes sir," A.J. said nervously. Snap was just as quick to offer the Pokémon his assurance of complete co-operation. Joy rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's over-acting and grinned behind her hand as she heard his psychic laughter.

__

Until then, I have a carefully limited indirect interference to prepare for. Leave me, all of you. The three humans left the psychic Pokémon alone with his thoughts.

***

Sabrina had been crying on and off pretty much all evening. She couldn't handle this herself; she needed counsel. So she released her three closest friends from their Pokéballs. "Oh Haunter, Mew, Alakazam, I am such a mess," she sniffled.

__

You shouldn't despair, Sabrina, Haunter announced firmly. _Your own doubts do this to you, nothing else._

Haunter is right, Mew added. _You should not doubt yourself so fiercely_. The psychic cat's mental tone became mischievous. _Besides, have you bothered to 'listen' to Lance while you are fighting? He is very nearly entranced by your movements! He is practically _screaming_ for your company._

But… but he is terrified of me, Sabrina insisted. _Everyone is! All they can see is the powerful psychic who could enslave them if she wanted to. I will never, _never_, be just a woman, only a _thing_!_

If that is what you truly believe, Haunter said in a warning tone, _then that is all you will ever be._

Sabrina started to cry again, and leant forward, her face pressed in her palms. Alakazam touched her head and stroked her hair like a parent soothing a child. _Sabrina, I was your first,_ she said. _When I was still an Abra, I was the only one of your band who stuck by you when madness threatened to turn you into a monster. I hoped that you would recover one day and, thanks to Ash and Haunter, you did. Now you are repaying that debt and I am very, very proud of the wonderful person you have become. Now you must be strong for yourself and beat not a physical or psychic foe, but your own demons._

Sabrina managed a quiet smile and looked up. She reached up and stroked Alakazam's soft, furry face. "I am trying, Alakazam," she replied. "But it hurts, old friend. I am so lonely and it hurts so very, very much."

"Um, Ma'am, I'm sorry for running off earlier… Please don't cry," Sabrina nearly jumped out of her skin at Lance's voice. She had been so wrapped up in her pain that she hadn't sensed his approach. Mew giggled in his mischievous psychic voice.

__

You could have warned me, she snapped at her Pokémon.

__

Why? Mew laughed. _It is too much fun watching you get surprised!_

Sabrina scowled in annoyance and this made Lance fret. "Uh, you are caring for your Pokémon," he said. "I can come back later."

"NO!" Sabrina almost shouted. "No, please stay, Lance. I was just thinking about something."

Lance sat down opposite Sabrina nervously. _She is so… beautiful!_ He thought in amazement. _Stop it, Lance, you are acting like a lovesick teenager… which is what I am… Oh God, what if she can hear me? _Sabrina _wasn't_ 'listening' of course. Many people feared that telepaths could hear their thoughts at all times, completely forgetting that any sane telepath wouldn't _want_ to hear the stream-of-consciousness gibberish that was conscious thought patterns. _I wonder what her lips taste of…_ a tiny part of Lance thought impishly.

That Sabrina-specific thought _did _get through and it made Sabrina feel warm. She didn't get the sense of it, only the surge of attraction. Even if it was only a crush, it was warming her heart. "So, what can I do for you, Lance?" Sabrina asked. Her voice had got lower for some reason and it made her fret. Behind her, Haunter began to chuckle in his deep voice.

"I… er…" Lance wondered how he could say this. After a moment, he shook his head and threw caution to the wind. "I wondered what you meant what you said earlier about 'remedying' us not knowing each other properly."

"Oh," Sabrina said. Of all the things he could ask, this was the one she didn't want to answer. "Well… It's technical," she said lamely.

"What do you mean?"

"Uh…" _Oh what the hell, girl. Tell him already. _"Well, I can create a short-lived psychic link between us that would let us share our memories and perceptions," she explained. "We wouldn't be strangers anymore and… I hope… it means that we could be friends… if you want?" Sabrina's tone became pleading.

Lance was shocked and had to think this through. "Are you saying that… that I would be in your head and you would be in mine? That we would know… _everything?_" Sabrina nodded and Lance was suitably amazed. "Wow, that is incredible," he said. "Let's do it!"

"No, wait," Sabrina insisted. "Look, Lance, you don't understand the consequences." Lance looked her in the eye and waited. Sabrina realised with a shock that, firstly, he was interested in this procedure, and that, secondly, he was actually _listening_ to her_. Maybe he isn't on hormone power after all,_ she thought. "Lance, even thought the link itself is temporary, the side-effects are permanent," she explained. "We would know _everything_ about each other. We would share every thought, every memory and every sin up to this moment of time. We could easily become emotionally dependent on each other and could never stay sane for too long if we were forced apart."

"Well, like you said, it is the twenty-first century," Lance said in a casual tone. "Even if we don't want to stay close, we can survive."

__

He doesn't understand, Sabrina thought with a sigh. "Just forget it, Lance," she said.

"No, I can't," the boy said. "You see…" he paused and licked his lips. "You see, I want to know you well… and I would like to feel I can call you 'Sabrina…'"

Sabrina looked at Lance and saw only the courage and determination that made Ash include a boy who was only fifteen at the time in Team Thunderbolt. She nodded and leaned forward. She arranged her long fingers on the side of his face. She concentrated and attempted to attain to peace. She felt the undisciplined energy of Lance's mind and smiled at the innocence of his soul. When she was certain she was in, she sent him a last warning. _This might be rather intense; you can still back out,_ she told him.

__

But I don't want to, Lance replied in his head. Sabrina was surprised at how clear that was… usually a non-psychic had a hard time transmitting thoughts even when in physical contact.

__

Very well then, she replied. She closed her eyes and gathered her power. The air went cold and Sabrina's Pokémon shivered instinctively. _Your mind to my mind_, Sabrina sent, gently drawing apart the barriers that shielded the depths of their minds. _Your thoughts to my thoughts…One and together…_

The first thought that came out of Lance's mind didn't surprise Sabrina at all. _I wonder if Ash is okay_, he thought.

__

I hope so, Sabrina replied, and then her mind screamed… there was no Sabrina and no Lance, but only a combination of the two… If Haunter hadn't dropped a 'dead air' psychic barrier over the two, everyone in the camp would have heard the cries of pain and pleasure that escaped the two young people's lips.

***

Ash looked up in surprise and then winced in pain at the light shining in from the corridor outside. "Good morning, Mr. Ketchum," Cassidy said brightly.

"Is it?" Ash asked stupidly.

"As far as you know," Cassidy replied. She walked over and looked him up and down critically. "My, you are a mess, you know that, kid?" she asked with a dangerous laugh. She leaned forward and wiped Ash's brow. "All sweaty and smelly…" she sniffed. "Hey, I think you've shit yourself! Ha! Whatever would the Scrawny Brat say?"

"She would say that you stink as a host," Ash said tiredly, trying to muster up enthusiasm for further defiance and resistance. "So, Little Miss Scar Face, what is on the menu today? Beatings, more electricity or are you just going to get your boyfriend to talk to me? His voice is torture enough."

Cassidy's expression did not change, but she slapped Ash around the face _hard_. "Enough talk," she snapped. She thrust her maimed face close to Ash and grinned at him in an unpleasant way. "First thing's first, you need a wash."

Ash knew a little fear as Cassidy pulled out her razor-sharp stiletto and sliced off his ruined jeans and boxers. Strangely enough, Ash didn't feel demeaned or intimidated even though he was tied up at full stretch and stark naked. After what he had been through recently, this didn't really register anymore. Cassidy picked up a bucked of water and threw it at him. She began to scrub the layers of filth off of his body with a stiff-haired brush. That hurt, but in a nice way. Ash tried to remind himself that this woman was an enemy, but his exhausted and battered body didn't want to listen. Much to his shame, it began to react automatically to the stimulation.

Cassidy looked on with an expression of amusement and lust. She smiled as best as she could with her ruined facial muscles. "My, I'm going to take back what I said!" she said. "You are no kid, you're a _man_, Ash Ketchum. For the first time, I'm jealous of the Scrawny Brat!"

"Her name is _Misty_," Ash snapped. "Show some respect you _slut_. She's a hundred times the woman you are."

"Really?" Cassidy asked with a quirky smile. "I wonder. Later on, I want you to tell me which of us is better." She leaned forward and _licked_ Ash's chest. Ash's eyes opened wide in horror when he realised what was about to happen. "I think you taste of tequila," Cassidy decided. "I wonder what other tastes I'll find today." Ash tried to cower away as Cassidy reached up and began to unzip her uniform.

***

Misty was sitting in her tent, hugging Togepi and crying her eyes out when the tent flap lifted up and Meowth walked in. "Meowth! How are ya doing, kiddo?" the cat-like Pokémon asked gently in his thick Brooklyn accent.

"Badly," Misty choked. "I can't stop thinking I've failed him, Meowth."

Meowth sighed and walked up to the human girl. "You haven't," he said. "When did youse have anything to do with it? You was miles away when da bad guys got him!"

"But I should have been _there!_" Misty insisted with a sob. "If I'd been there, maybe he wouldn't have been captured!" Misty hid her face in her hands. "And now I can't find him, Meowth. I just can't figure out a plan to find him and help him!" Her voice began to break up into sobs. "If… if the situations were reversed… Ash would have already saved me. I… I always knew I wasn't worthy of him… not his equal… now I've proven it."

Meowth purred and rubbed his large head against the girl's face, making her look up in surprise. "Whatya talking about?" he asked. "Meowth! Youse is doin' great! Youse handled everything and got da Team movin! Even Raichu tinks you are really handlin' things well!"

"If I'm so good," she grated, "why haven't I found Ash yet?"

Meowth shook his head. "'Cause dey hid him real well," he explained. Misty looked at him in surprise. "Look, I know Team Rocket. Dey are good at this stuff, so we're just going to have ta be bettah!" Acting on instinct, he brushed a little ginger hair out of Misty's red, tear-filled eyes, making her smile a little. "Youse just need ta think about how we do dat!"

"I don't think I can, Meowth," Misty replied gently. "I'm trying, but I keep drawing a blank."

Meowth grinned. "Dat's 'cause you've been awake for da last week," he explained. "Youse need a little rest, den you'll be ready ta plan."

Misty shook her head. "I can't sleep," she replied. "Not when Ash is probably being tortured right now. I can't rest while he is hurting like that…"

Meowth shook his head. "Misty, if ya don't rest, you wont be able to help him," he told her. "Den you really will have failed. Youse gotta rest."

"I CAN'T REST YOU STUPID CAT!" Misty shouted and immediately regretted it. "I… I'm sorry, Meowth."

"Dat's all right," he said. He hated doing this, but it was obviously necessary. He stepped forward and looked into her eyes. "Youse just lean back and relax," he advised, beginning a Charm Trance attack. Misty tried to resist, but her emotional exhaustion and low energy levels were enough to make that impossible. Meowth caught the girl before she could fall. With Togepi's help, he tucked her into her sleeping bag.

[Will Mommy be alright?] Togepi asked in genuine worry.

"She'll sleep," Meowth replied. "And tomorrow?" he shrugged and the little egg-like psi-type nodded wisely.

[What about Daddy?] Togepi asked, tears threatening at the corner of his eyes.

"I don't wanna tink about dat, kid," Meowth replied. "I don't wanna tink."

Meowth left Togepi with his Trainer and walked out to join Jessie, James and Raichu. "Well?" Jessie asked imperiously.

"She'll sleep," Meowth repeated.

James nodded compassionately. "That is enough of a blessing," he said.

"James, we have to talk," Jessie said after a moment. James looked at her questioningly. "We have to make plans for what we do if Ash never comes back," she said. James physically started when Jessie said that, but she had to continue, no matter how it distressed him. "Misty can't handle it forever. You have to…" Jessie paused before continuing. "You have to be ready to take over the team."

"Ash left her in charge," James responded quietly.

"James! She's falling apart!" Jessie hissed. "She can't handle it! You are going to have to take over or Giovanni will get us all!"

"Ash left _her_ in charge," James almost shouted. "And until he returns, she stays in charge! Got that?"

Jessie jumped back a good yard in surprise. "James," she said gently, "he isn't coming back, you know that…"

"Don't _ever_ say that!" James shouted, grabbing Jessie by the arms and shaking her. "He is coming back! And we are going to win! Do you understand? _Do you?_" James grabbed her jaw in a grip that threatened to crush it and stared into her eyes with murderous anger. "_Do you understand?_" he roared.

"_Yes, yes! Stop it, you're hurting me!_" Jessie wailed. Meowth and Raichu reacted immediately. Meowth knocked James away from Jessie with a Furry Swipe attack and Raichu shocked him. After a moment, James staggered to his feet and stormed off back to his tent without looking back at his lover once. 

Jessie sat there on the ground for a long moment. In all the years she and James had known each other, she had never felt closer to death than at that moment. James had been withdrawn ever since Ash had been captured, but that was now degenerating into a violent rage that filled his soul. If he were to finally succumb to the madness… "Ash," she whispered, crying in heartbreak. "Please come back… for all our sakes…"

***

Butch walked in to check up on the prisoner. Ketchum was stark naked, but that didn't immediately register in Butch's mind. It was a state he half expected, especially if he was _really_ messy when Cassidy came to do her check up earlier that morning. "Okay, hero, rise and shine," he said in his grating voice. There was no reply.

Butch strode up and casually slapped Ash's lolling head. The boy's head tilted over to an unnatural angle, but he did not react. His eyes were open, his pupils dilated and his expression totally _blank_ as he stared up into the corner of the ceiling. Butch swallowed a portion of mortal terror. "No," he said. "Oh shit, no. Don't do this to me you stupid Twerp!" The Boss wanted him alive and undamaged… if the kid had dropped dead, the death that would be their punishment would be lengthy and excruciatingly painful… "Come on… give me a sign here, kid," Butch said. He checked Ash's pulse and found it weak but steady. He leaned close to Ash's face and felt gentle but steady breaths stir his hair. 

Butch blew out a breath in relief. "Okay, wakey, wakey Ketchum," Butch said. He grabbed Ash by the chin and waggled his head. "I said wake up!" he shouted.

There was no response. Ash's eyes had rolled out of synch and he was clearly not really conscious. Butch trembled with fear. He knew what this was. He had seen photographs of people like this in the Field Interrogation classes at Headquarters. It was theoretically possible that if you hurt someone badly enough or forced them to face sufficiently great a fear, their mind would overload and shut down to protect them from further suffering. It was technically called a _Catatonic Trance_. And this had apparently happened to his prisoner.

Butch was sweating freely now. Sometimes, with a lot of therapy, people recovered from catatonia, but occasionally they remained little more than vegetables for the rest of their existence. If the Boss decided that Butch and Cassidy were responsible for losing his prize prisoner to insanity… it didn't bear thinking about.

"Christ, how did this happen?" Butch wailed to no one. This morning, when he checked, Ketchum was still full of spunk, talking back to the hologram of the Boss and insulting Cassidy's maimed face. Now he was poster boy for National Brain-Death Monthly. He stepped back and examined his prisoner thoughtfully. The nakedness hadn't registered before, but it was no surprise. Cassidy had clearly cleaned the kid up well, but there was something else.

There were a series of scratches, long and shallow incisions and shallow puncture wounds all over Ash's body, as if someone had been working him over with a knife. Furthermore, the locations of the wounds disturbed Butch. Then it hit him; they were concentrated around the erogenous zones, and especially around the genitals. Butch had seen this pattern of wounds before. Indeed, he had experienced them _himself_. Five years ago, he had rather naively boasted to Cassidy that he could satisfy _all_ her needs. She had taken him up on that boast and demonstrated exactly _what_ those needs were. He still woke up screaming some dark nights…

"Oh… Oh _shit_!" Butch hissed. "That stupid, _stupid_ slut! She can't keep it zipped up for a second! That fucking insane _whore_ has gone too far this time!" Butch fled, leaving his prisoner dangling, his eyes blank and unseeing, his mind empty of everything except a lingering horror and pain that had squeezed out everything else.

***

Butch stormed into Cassidy's cabin just as she was brushing her hair after a refreshing shower. "Why Butch," she purred seductively, cocking her hips under the towel, "how can I be of _service_ to you?"

Butch slapped Cassidy with the back of his hand, knocking her back onto her bunk. "You crazy slut," he snapped. "Do you have any idea what you have done?" Cassidy attempted an expression of wounded innocence that didn't fool Butch in the slightest. "You've practically _killed_ him you nymphomaniac!"

"Butch, that… that isn't true," Cassidy stammered. "I'm just softening him up. Like I said, the carrot instead of the stick!"

Butch covered his face. He was so frightened of the Boss's impending wrath that it was taking all of his self control not to start being sick. "He's gone into some kind of coma, Cassidy! You haven't broken him… you've _destroyed him!_"

Cassidy laughed. "Don't worry, darling," she replied. "You were like that the first time, remember?" Her laugh became sadistic. "He'll come around after a few hours and I'll show him a little more. Eventually, I'll have him tied around my little finger and he will be _glad_ to do whatever we ask. Then the Boss will be pleased and we get our promotion!"

"I think you may have gone a little too far," Butch suggested. "He's gone CATATONIC you psychopathic whore!"

"Rubbish!" Cassidy snorted. "You're just jealous."

"Jealous?" Butch almost squeaked. He couldn't believe he was having this conversation. 

"Yes, jealous!" Cassidy snapped. She grinned up at him carnivorously. "And you have a right to be, Butch. He was far, _far_ better than you are. He put up quite a fight, even though he was bound hand and foot! Can you imagine? Yes that was a sweet experience indeed, enough to keep me warm on the coldest nights!"

Butch shook his head in disgust. "Cassidy, I am _not_ jealous of you deciding to rape him to satisfy your sickening _appetites_. I am just more than a little concerned with how the Boss will react to a _brain-dead_ prisoner. The same prisoner that he _ordered_ us to keep _intact!_"

Cassidy got up and slinked up to her partner. "He's not brain-dead, silly," she said. "Don't worry, I know how to get his attention." She laughed sensually. "I know how to get yours too." She reached up and used the nail on her right little finger to open a long cut along Butch's cheekbone. She leaned forward and licked the blood off with the tip of her tongue. "My big strong Butch," she whispered. "How I love your taste…"

Butch was repulsed. He shoved Cassidy back, then punched her, sending her crashing to the deck. Her towel came undone and when she rolled over she was naked, but neither seemed to notice. "Ooh, coming on strong Butchy?" Cassidy cackled dementedly. "Do you like _pain_? Well so do I! Let's share some now!" She lunged forward, but Butch met her face with a solid kick that slammed her back into the wall. 

He backed towards the door nervously. "You've changed, Cass," he said shakily. "You've de-evolved! Since that time Ketchum's Raichu worked you over you… you've turned into a rabid _animal!_"

Cassidy laughed again; She was feeling an incredible rush of nearly sexual pleasure as she tasted her own blood in her mouth. "Now Butchy, don't be a stick in the mud," she giggled with a childish pout. "Join me next time… I'm sure you'll enjoy it!"

Butch had already fled down the companionway.

***

All was quiet in the camp of Team Thunderbolt. Occasionally, Sabrina and Ash's Haunters would drift by, or one of the more corporeal nocturnal Pokémon on their patrols. None of them, however, sensed the intruder who marched slowly and purposefully through the camp.

There was one person who was powerful enough to penetrate the psychic Stealth defence the intruder was using, but she was rather busy. Sabrina and Lance were currently deeply asleep, naked and tangled together in a knot of arms and legs. What they had seen inside each other's heads… well that answered all of their questions immediately. All Sabrina's mind could do was engage in a minutely detailed and repeated deep scan of Lance's incredibly open mind, trying to memorise every bit of this being who had so totally and utterly claimed her soul.

Mewtwo stopped by a two-person tent that was currently holding only one tormented soul. He reached out with his mind and sensed Misty Waterflower's terrifying dreams. _Such pain_, he said quietly. _I once believed humans were sadistic pain givers… but now I realise if they are, it is because they experience so much terrible pain themselves._ Mewtwo smiled gently and reached out. Nightmare is a powerful attack under any circumstances, and Mewtwo is a master of all things involved in the manipulation of the mind, both conscious and unconscious.

Misty tossed in her sleeping bag. Beside her, Togepi vaguely sensed the mind manipulating his Trainer's thought patterns, but in his childish innocence was ignorant of the import of these sensations…

DISCONTINUITY 

Misty was standing alone on a wind-swept cliff. She was naked (as she always was in her dreams) and shivering in fear. A black sun shone, capping the waves of the vast stagnant ocean of thought with ebony light. She could feel a mind observing her as a researcher would observe some new kind of virus or bacterium through a microscope.

__

Who… who is there? She shouted out into the void.

__

Misty!

Ash?

Misty! Help me!

Misty swung around wildly, desperately searching for the source of her lover's voice. _Ash… Ash, where are you? I'm trying to find you but I can't!_

Help me Misty, please! I'm hurting!

Misty began to cry helplessly. _Oh Ash, Ash my love, I want to find you… I'm trying but I can't. Please, whoever is listening, help me please!_

Suddenly a bright light shone down. Misty turned and saw something out on the trackless ocean. A boat… no a _ship_. A beautiful, luxurious ship that almost made the old _St. Anne_ look small… Somehow, she knew that Ash was on that vessel. It was there that he was being held and being made to suffer…

As she watched a massive thunderbolt illuminated the scene. A thunderbolt followed by a massive Pokéball that opened. The capture sequence dragged her forward. As she staggered towards the edge of the cliff she, absurdly, passed a smartly dressed man with black hair and eyes that sparkled with humour. "The name is Bond," he said in a thick Scottish accent, "James Bond. Look me up, my dear."

A huge aircraft with a delta wing and four powerful engines roared overhead making the cliff face crumble with the force of its' sonic boom. Misty was sent tumbling into the air and she was sucked up towards the giant Pokéball, her physical structure being converted into a laser contained matter stream for storage… Misty tried to scream as she was falling…

Falling…

Falling…

Falling…

DISCONTINUITY 

Misty awakened with a shriek of surprise. "Ash!" she shouted.

The noise awakened Togepi. [What is it, Mommy?] he asked in worry.

"I… I've got to think," Misty said, ignoring the egg-like Pokémon. She could remember her dream with absolute clarity, something unusual for her. Misty put her hands to her head and thought furiously. "That boat… Ash is being held on a boat. But what boat and where? Damn it, there are thousands… millions." Misty remembered the dapper man, who might have been charming but he was sure as hell _dangerous_.

"Bond… James Bond," she remembered. "I _know _that name, but from where?" Misty thought fiercely. "Of course, a twentieth century film," she said quietly. "Brock is a fan of those and he was always showing us his favourites when we stayed with him in Pewter. He'll understand."

Misty jumped out of her tent and ran towards Brock's tent. She virtually kicked it over in her urgency. "Brock, wake up damn you," she hollered, awakening all the others in one go. "I have to find out what this clue _means_."

***

Cassidy stormed through the companionways of the _Thunderball_. She was in a foul mood after her argument with Butch. She was vaguely aware that she had done something wrong… but she couldn't figure out what it was. So what if the Ketchum kid had blown a few fuses? They were _supposed_ to break him, weren't they? A tiny part of Cassidy Yamoto Wilkes realised that she had finally gone utterly mad. Unfortunately, her conscious self was enjoying the careless violence and indulgence of barbaric impulses far too much for that small part to persuade her to get the help she needed.

Cassidy stopped in the middle of the main corridor down E-Deck, just below the waterline and started to giggle dementedly as she considered the torments she was going to inflict on Ash Ketchum. She would enjoy it, and she had promised herself that she would make _him_ enjoy it too. Her laughter got louder and louder. She fell against the wall, holding her sides that felt like they were going to burst. She laughed and laughed until she shouted "Shut up, damn you!"

There was a long silence. _Talking to myself, _she thought. _First sign of madness. Ah, what the hell, being sane is overrated. _That was so funny that she had to pinch herself _hard_ to control the giggles. That felt very good, and she promised to find new places to pinch herself on her next free shift. "But first, Ketchum," she announced portentously. 

Cassidy virtually slid down the main staircase to F-Deck, and walked forward to the cell where the prisoner was being kept. As she walked along, she began to sing a happy tune to herself. It surprised her to see two Dan'in armed with semi-automatic shotguns guarding the door, but not much. _My Butchy_, she thought, _he's always the careful one. I must remember to be nice to him one day._ She walked forward to open the hatch to the cell/torture chamber, but one of the guards blocked her way.

"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded.

"Sorry, Ma'am," the young terrorist fighter responded, "but this compartment is restricted to authorised personnel only."

That was such an unlikely thing to hear that Cassidy could only stand and gape for a long minute. "I think you'll find that I have authorisation," she responded, her voice cold and threatening.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Wilkes, Ma'am," the fighter repeated nervously, "but I'm afraid that you don't. Only Mr. Williams and the medics are allowed in there right now."

"_What?_ That's rubbish," Cassidy snapped. "I'm going to see Butch and sort this out and you," here she pointed an aggressive finger at the guard, "are going to regret your impudence."

"Don't bother, I'm here," Butch said. Cassidy looked up and saw her partner standing at the top of the corridor. Two other Dan'in, also armed with semi-automatic shotguns accompanied him. "You're not allowed in there, I'm afraid, Cassidy."

Cassidy scowled at Butch and stalked towards him. "What are you talking about?" she hissed. "We've got an assignment, remember?"

"Not any more we don't," Butch replied. Cassidy saw the fear in his eyes and realised that she was not the cause. "The Boss is taking charge of Ketchum immediately. We've been recalled to Headquarters for a disciplinary investigation."

Cassidy suddenly noticed that the _Thunderball_'s powerful gas turbine engines were running. They were already on the way. "You stupid bastard!" Cassidy shouted. "Don't tell me that you went to the Boss with your ridiculous story about the boy going into catatonia!"

"After the medics confirmed it, I had to," Butch grated. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be, Cassidy."

Cassidy lunged forward and punched Butch hard, making him reel back. She tried to follow that up with a kick to the face, but suddenly the Dan'in were all over her. A cattle prod jabbed her in the small of her back and she was sent to the floor with a scream, twitching helplessly. Before she could regain control of her limbs, a Dan'in pulled her gold-plated Colt .45" semi-auto from its' holster and two others forced her arms behind her back. She heard the 'snick' of handcuffs locking onto her wrists. "This is mutiny!" she shouted. "I'm the senior agent here, not him!"

Butch stepped forward, rolled Cassidy onto her back and, leaning over her, grabbed her by the jaw, forcing her to look at him. "Listen you stupid slut," he snarled. "We are both looking death in the face right now. If you are smart, you will do exactly what I tell you. I've told the Boss that you have had a nervous breakdown and that you can't be held responsible for your actions. If we are _lucky_, he will be satisfied with demoting us to the ranks and putting us on latrine duties until we die of old age."

"Forget it," Cassidy hissed. "I'm not taking the fall because you've turned chicken, Butch Williams."

Butch slapped her. "You stupid little whore," he hissed. "Don't you understand that we don't have a choice? You repeat that idea of yours to the Boss about trying to break Ketchum through rape and he will have us both staked out in the sun covered with jam for the Beedrills to eat alive!" Cassidy swallowed nervously at Butch's vehemence. "You know that he will hold _me_ responsible for not realising you were going out of control and stopping you. And I am not about to die for you, Cassidy Wilkes, not anymore."

Butch blew out his breath and stood up, drawing a shaking hand through his hair. The two fighters who had accompanied him pulled Cassidy to her feet. "Ms. Wilkes is restricted to quarters," Butch told them. "Take her away."

"I'm going to get you for this you traitor," Cassidy snarled. "And after everything I did for you! You were nothing but a _hopeless_ bit of cannon fodder when I picked you to replace Jessie as my partner! I made you _everything_ that you are now."

"I know," Butch replied, "and that is why you are alive. I really ought to shoot you as a renegade, but I owe you this much." He sighed in defeat. "Cassidy, just try to stay calm. I want you to get better. When we get back to Headquarters, I'll see about getting you some help."

"_I AM NOT MAD!_" Cassidy screamed at the top of her voice.

"Whatever," Butch said with a shrug. "Either you get better or you get out of my way, Cass. You ever put me in danger like this again and I'll just step over your corpse." Butch turned and walked away. Cassidy was so shocked that she didn't offer any resistance as the two Dan'in dragged her back to her cabin. 

Once there, they pulled off her Pokébelt, unlocked her handcuffs and then shoved her inside. Cassidy cowered on the floor as she heard the door lock behind her. If she were any normal person, she would have started crying at the very real possibility that she was going to spend the rest of her life in a Team Rocket-run asylum. Instead she got to her feet and, wearing a feral snarl, began to pace around the room like a caged animal.

***

Brock was in a foul mood. Misty couldn't blame him for this as he had just been awoken after three hours of sleep by a half-hysterical girl babbling on about a series of movies made almost a century ago. But this was _important_, and he was the only one who had anything even close to the knowledge she needed to solve this riddle.

Misty was standing next to Brock, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, drinking yet another coffee. Joy was hovering close to them both, trying to stop them from coming to blows. The rest of the Thunderbolts were crowded around, roused by the noise. Some of them weren't as sure as Misty was at the relevance of this dream.

"Misty, for God's sake it was just a dream," Richie groused. "Just go back to sleep!" _And let us sleep too_, he added silently

Sabrina shook her head, frowning. "It wasn't just a dream," she said. "There is a lasting impression of a power here. Someone or something _imposed _those images on Misty's mind."

"And why didn't you detect this earlier?" Richie asked the psychic combatively. He _didn't_ like her and he as sure as hell _didn't_ trust her. To his surprise, Sabrina looked in Lance's direction and blushed a bright red. _Aw hell_, Richie thought and wished that he could just sink into the ground and never be seen again.

"She has been working hard, Richie," Lance said quietly. "Maybe she was sleeping more deeply than usual."

"Yeah, maybe," Richie said feeling terribly embarrassed.

Brock finished his fourth cup of coffee. "Okay," he said gently. "Let's start again. What did you see."

"Well, there was this boat, a very big luxury yacht, and I got the clear impression Ash was on board," Misty began. Brock nodded encouragingly. "I saw James Bond… it was the first one, the Scottish guy."

"Sean Connery," Brock supplied. He grinned impishly. "Are you sure this wasn't just a romantic fantasy?"

Misty blushed red with anger and Joy thumped Brock soundly. "Try to take this seriously, Mr. One-Night Stand," she hissed. Brock flushed angrily, but managed to turn his attention back to Misty's recollections.

"And there was this aircraft. A huge thing with a single delta wing and four engines."

Brock nodded. "That narrows it down a _lot_. Could it be _Moonraker?_" He turned to their resident experts on Team Rocket. "James, does Team Rocket have any orbital bases?"

James shrugged. Jessie looked helpless. Meowth shook his head decisively. "Nah, da Boss's never been interested in dat stuff."

Brock shook his head in frustration. "This is hopeless!" he shouted.

"Brock!" Joy hissed. "Calm down." The feeling of defeat got to everyone. Sabrina, Lance and Richie drifted away. Poor Misty looked on the verge of tears. Raichu walked up beside her and leapt to her shoulders. He stroked her face affectionately with his soft cheeks.

[You are doing everything you can, Misty,] he said. [Don't despair.]

"Was there anything else?" Jessie asked kindly. "Anything at all?"

Misty frowned. "Well… I was on a cliff," she said quietly. "There… there was a big thunderbolt, probably a reference to 'Team Thunderbolt…' and a big Pokéball…"

"Wait a minute," Brock said suddenly, standing up. "Thunderbolt and a Pokéball… why does that make me think…?" He began to pace. "Thunderbolt and a Pokéball… Thunder and a ball… Oh… oh my God I am an idiot! The boat! The Vulcan Bomber… It's about _Thunderball!_"

"Thunderball?" Jessie shouted, jumping to her feet. "Where did you hear that name?"

"_Thunderball_ was the fourth James Bond movie," Brock said. "It is famed as the first one where a villain called James Bond 'Meester Bond.'" Brock thought that was funny, but no one else got the joke.

"_Thunderball_ is also the name of Giovanni's yacht," Jessie said. "She's quite a machine, part luxury cruiser and part pirate warship. Before I started serving on a field team as Cassidy's second, I had a temporary assignment on board as a stewardess." She shuddered and leaned into James' comforting presence. "Giovanni and his rich friends had a unique idea of what classified as 'entertaining guests.'"

There was a long pause before Misty spoke. "Where is she right now?"

Richie raised a finger. "I think I might know how to find out." He ran back to his tent and emerged with his laptop computer. Within minutes he was on-line to www.ministryofshipping.gov.kto. He called up the record for the merchant vessel 'Thunderball,' registered in Cinnabar City. "The documented owner is a company called 'Red Star Engineering Inc,'" he said.

Meowth nodded. "Dat's the one. Red Star is one o' da Boss's legitimate companies."

Richie nodded. He quickly pursued the file and easily overcame the simple security locks that protected privileged information. "Okay, it looks like we have struck a jackpot here, folks," he said in an excited tone. "The _Thunderball_ has been moored in Fuchsia City Harbour for the last three weeks. She has just put to sea this evening, but no destination was logged with the Harbourmaster's office."

"Ten will give you a thousand that they're heading for Black Island," Lance announced.

Misty stepped away, her face unreadable. "Ash is on that ship," she said with total certainty. She turned to her friends and allies. "We're going to stop that boat and rescue him. Let's get packed people. Jessie?" she turned to her friend. "I want to know everything you know about the _Thunderball_. Crew numbers, sensors, defensive weapons and her performance at sea if you know." Jessie nodded in agreement.

As the camp broke up, Misty walked a few yards away to gather her thoughts. Whoever had sent that dream had her thanks. It wasn't as good as delivering Ash back to her, but she could do the rest. "Hang on Ash," she said quietly. "We're coming…"

__

To be continued…


	5. Team Rocket Strikes Back

**__**

PoKéMoN

Avenger – by Ben Russell-Gough

****

Legal Disclaimer

Pokémon, the Pocket Monsters and their human friends and enemies are all the sole copyright and trademark property of Nintendo Entertainment, Game Freak Software and 4 Kids Productions. No breach of any copyright or legal property is intended.

****

Author's Notes

This is my first Pokémon fic. I _still _don't know all the monsters or the moves, so please forgive me if I get something glaringly wrong. I can only base my work on the little I've seen of the cartoon. 

I want to take this opportunity to thank all the other Fanfiction.NET authors for providing plenty of information, feedback and honest advice. It has made my work much better and more satisfying to read, I think. Special thanks must go to Charles 'Rocketboy' Reilly, Wind, Chuchino, Joshua Falken and Catalina Storm for their invaluable detailed feedback.

Text in [squared-off brackets] is translated Pokémon talk

Text in _Italics_ but not in quotes indicates thought or telepathic communication

Text in **bold** is a mobile 'phone text message

This is an **Alternate Universe** fic.

Ages: Ash is 17; Misty has just turned 19; Brock is 25; Jessie and James are both 24; Richie is 17; Duplicia is 18; Sabrina is 20; Lance is 16; Joy is 29.

****

Censor: R (Equivalent to UK '15' Certificate)

Content Warning: Swearing, implied sexual activity & violence

****

Book 2 – Team Rocket Strikes Back

__

What has gone before…

It is a time of great struggle, with the forces of good and evil locked in a dreadful war to decide who will be the ultimate masters of the Pokémon. A small band of heroic Trainers, known as Team Thunderbolt, are fighting an all-but-hopeless struggle against the immense power of the dreaded terrorist organisation Team Rocket.

Now, the destiny of the entire world lies in the balance. Ash Ketchum, the Chosen One and the greatest Pokémon Trainer who has ever walked the Earth has been betrayed into the hands of Team Rocket and into the hands of his insane estranged father Giovanni diRocketti.

As Ash's friends and comrades in Team Thunderbolt struggle to find him, and to endure in his absence, Butch and Cassidy, Team Rocket's most feared operatives, are sadistically torturing Ash in an attempt to break his will and turn him to the path of evil. Although Ash is strong, no mortal can take such punishment before his or her body begins to rebel and ultimately fail.

Now, indirectly assisted by the rogue super-Pokémon Mewtwo, Misty Waterflower and Team Thunderbolt are hard on the trail of their missing leader. The question is… is it already too late?

***

Butch stormed into Cassidy's cabin just as she was brushing her hair after a refreshing shower. "Why Butch," she purred seductively, cocking her hips under the towel, "how can I be of _service_ to you?"

Butch slapped Cassidy with the back of his hand, knocking her back onto her bunk. "You crazy slut," he snapped. "Do you have any idea what you have done?" Cassidy attempted an expression of wounded innocence that didn't fool Butch in the slightest. "You've practically _killed_ him you nymphomaniac!"

"Butch, that… that isn't true," Cassidy stammered. "I'm just softening him up. Like I said, the carrot instead of the stick!"

Butch covered his face. He was so frightened of the Boss's impending wrath that it was taking all of his self control not to start being sick. "He's gone into some kind of coma, Cassidy! You haven't broken him… you've _destroyed him!_"

Cassidy laughed. "Don't worry, darling," she replied. "You were like that the first time, remember?" Her laugh became sadistic. "He'll come around after a few hours and I'll show him a little more. Eventually, I'll have him tied around my little finger and he will be _glad_ to do whatever we ask. Then the Boss will be pleased and we get our promotion!"

"I think you may have gone a little too far," Butch suggested. "He's gone CATATONIC you psychopathic whore!"

***

Brock was in a foul mood. Misty couldn't blame him for this as he had just been awoken after three hours of sleep by a half-hysterical girl babbling on about a series of movies made almost a century ago. But this was _important_, and he was the only one who had anything even close to the knowledge she needed to solve this riddle.

Misty was standing next to Brock, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, drinking yet another coffee. Joy was hovering close to them both, trying to stop them from coming to blows. The rest of the Thunderbolts were crowded around, roused by the noise. Some of them weren't as sure as Misty was at the relevance of this dream.

"Misty, for God's sake it was just a dream," Richie groused. "Just go back to sleep!" _And let us sleep too_, he added silently

Sabrina shook her head, frowning. "It wasn't just a dream," she said. "There is a lasting impression of a power here. Someone or something _imposed _those images on Misty's mind."

"And why didn't you detect this earlier?" Richie asked the psychic combatively. He _didn't_ like her and he as sure as hell _didn't_ trust her. To his surprise, Sabrina looked in Lance's direction and blushed a bright red. _Aw hell_, Richie thought and wished that he could just sink into the ground and never be seen again.

"She has been working hard, Richie," Lance said quietly. "Maybe she was sleeping more deeply than usual."

"Yeah, maybe," Richie said feeling terribly embarrassed.

Brock finished his fourth cup of coffee. "Okay," he said gently. "Let's start again. What did you see."

"Well, there was this boat, a very big luxury yacht, and I got the clear impression Ash was on board," Misty began. Brock nodded encouragingly. "I saw James Bond… it was the first one, the Scottish guy."

"Sean Connery," Brock supplied. He grinned impishly. "Are you sure this wasn't just a romantic fantasy?"

Misty blushed red with anger and Joy thumped Brock soundly. "Try to take this seriously, Mr. One-Night Stand," she hissed. Brock flushed angrily, but managed to turn his attention back to Misty's recollections.

"And there was this aircraft. A huge thing with a single delta wing and four engines."

Brock nodded. "That narrows it down a _lot_. Could it be _Moonraker?_" He turned to their resident experts on Team Rocket. "James, does Team Rocket have any orbital bases?"

James shrugged. Jessie looked helpless. Meowth shook his head decisively. "Nah, da Boss's never been interested in dat stuff."

Brock shook his head in frustration. "This is hopeless!" he shouted.

"Brock!" Joy hissed. "Calm down." The feeling of defeat got to everyone. Sabrina, Lance and Richie drifted away. Poor Misty looked on the verge of tears. Raichu walked up beside her and leapt to her shoulders. He stroked her face affectionately with his soft cheeks.

[You are doing everything you can, Misty,] he said. [Don't despair.]

"Was there anything else?" Jessie asked kindly. "Anything at all?"

Misty frowned. "Well… I was on a cliff," she said quietly. "There… there was a big thunderbolt, probably a reference to 'Team Thunderbolt…' and a big Pokéball…"

"Wait a minute," Brock said suddenly, standing up. "Thunderbolt and a Pokéball… why does that make me think…?" He began to pace. "Thunderbolt and a Pokéball… Thunder and a ball… Oh… oh my God I am an idiot! The boat! The Vulcan Bomber… It's about _Thunderball!_"

"Thunderball?" Jessie shouted, jumping to her feet. "Where did you hear that name?"

"_Thunderball_ was the fourth James Bond movie," Brock said. "It is famed as the first one where a villain called James Bond 'Meester Bond.'" Brock thought that was funny, but no one else got the joke.

"_Thunderball_ is also the name of Giovanni's yacht," Jessie said. "She's quite a machine, part luxury cruiser and part pirate warship. Before I started serving on a field team as Cassidy's second, I had a temporary assignment on board as a stewardess." She shuddered and leaned into James' comforting presence. "Giovanni and his rich friends had a unique idea of what classified as 'entertaining guests.'"

There was a long pause before Misty spoke. "Where is she right now?"

Richie raised a finger. "I think I might know how to find out." He ran back to his tent and emerged with his laptop computer. Within minutes he was on-line to www.ministryofshipping.gov.kto. He called up the record for the merchant vessel 'Thunderball,' registered in Cinnabar City. "The documented owner is a company called 'Red Star Engineering Inc,'" he said.

Meowth nodded. "Dat's the one. Red Star is one o' da Boss's legitimate companies."

Richie nodded. He quickly pursued the file and easily overcame the simple security locks that protected privileged information. "Okay, it looks like we have struck a jackpot here, folks," he said in an excited tone. "The _Thunderball_ has been moored in Fuchsia City Harbour for the last three weeks. She has just put to sea this evening, but no destination was logged with the Harbourmaster's office."

"Ten will give you a thousand that they're heading for Black Island," Lance announced.

Misty stepped away, her face unreadable. "Ash is on that ship," she said with total certainty. She turned to her friends and allies. "We're going to stop that boat and rescue him. Let's get packed people. Jessie?" she turned to her friend. "I want to know everything you know about the _Thunderball_. Crew numbers, sensors, defensive weapons and her performance at sea if you know." Jessie nodded in agreement.

As the camp broke up, Misty walked a few yards away to gather her thoughts. Whoever had sent that dream had her thanks. It wasn't as good as delivering Ash back to her, but she could do the rest. "Hang on Ash," she said quietly. "We're coming…"

__

And now the continuation…

****

Chapter 5 – Team Rocket Strikes Back

Off the coast of the island continent of Kanto, a 450-foot long luxury yacht was driving out to sea at its' top speed of 28 knots. The beautiful, sleek vessel, the _Thunderball_, was the property of millionaire businessman and Gym Leader Giovanni diRocketti. It also hid a deadly secret. Buried under its' sleek lines was firepower enough to defeat a moderate-sized warship; for this was a vessel operated by the terrorist organisation Team Rocket.

Deep within the forward hull of the big vessel, a group of people was standing around a youthful figure, who was tied down into a bed, despite the fact that he was clearly virtually comatose. Butch Kojiburo Williams looked down at the still form of Ash Satoshi Ketchum and felt a strange sympathy for the Organisation's sworn enemy. Ash had been a thorn in his side for… God, it must be longer than five years now. Despite that fact, and despite the fact that Ketchum was the leader of Team Thunderbolt, a group of vigilantes dedicated to the destruction of Team Rocket, he still felt sorry for the kid. Ash had been an honourable and courageous opponent; he was a brother warrior and one worthy of the greatest respect. Butch shuddered as he looked into his unfocussed and almost _dead_ eyes. _This is no fate for a soldier_, he thought in horror. _Better a clean death than to be reduced to a… vegetable._

Butch sucked in a deep breath before talking to the two Team Rocket medics, who were checking the intravenous nutrient drips and the prisoner's vital signs. "Is there any change?" he asked hopelessly.

The lead medic shook his head. "None, I'm afraid sir," he replied. "The prisoner remains in a catatonic state. His vital signs are normal, but there is no conscious response to any external stimuli." The medic looked at Butch, his face concerned. "Sir, if I may ask… What did Ms. Wilkes do to him?"

"Stuff from your worst nightmares, pal," Butch replied, his face going blank as he remembered the occasion when she had inflicted those torments on _him_.

***

Cassidy Yamato Wilkes had been pacing from side to side of her small cabin on the _Thunderball_ without even pausing for several hours now. Her scarred, maimed face, which still bore the signs of the beauty she had boasted only a year ago, was twisted with elemental rage. 

When the guards locked her in here, her first thought was to swear that she would get out of this trap. She would make Butch _pay_ for betraying her. She would break Ash Ketchum's spirit, even if she had to step over The Boss's dead body to do it. She would do this and many other things to prove that _no one_ could dictate to _her_ what she could or couldn't do.

As she paced restlessly, her mind span in smaller and smaller circles, her thoughts becoming less and less coherent. Thoughts and images crowded upon her, her past, present and her dreams. These quickly became confused; fantasy and reality combined in a boiling mix of the real and the imaginary. Pretty soon, her mind stopped functioning properly, and all she was aware of was a boiling animalistic hatred that provided a glorious flow of adrenaline that kept her moving, even though her throat was screaming for a glass of water. As she continued to pace, flecks of foam were forming at the corners of her mouth.

By the time the _Thunderball_'s radar detected the three flying Pokémon closing in on the yacht, there was nothing in the mind of Cassidy Wilkes. Nothing except a blazing lust to cause the world pain and suffering on an unprecedented scale. Of course, you could argue that there _never_ had been anything else in there anyway.

***

Richie Yeager, sitting on the back of his Dragonite, Tempest, looked over at his companions. Misty Waterflower and Brock Slate sat on the back of Misty's own Dragonite, while James Weston and Jessie Scarlet flew on the back of Jessie's Fearaven. Behind him, Sabrina von Daimen and Lance Hook were sitting on Tempest's back.

Frankly, the presence of the powerful psychic so nearby made Richie incredibly uncomfortable. The thought that she could be peering under his skull _right now_ and finding out all his secrets… He shuddered. Unfortunately, she was also vital for this operation, and Misty had insisted that _he_ carry her along.

Tempest rumbled affectionately underneath Richie. The sensitive Pokémon could feel his unhappiness and was trying to make him feel better. It was a good effort, but he wasn't going to make Richie happier that easily.

Suddenly, Richie's cell phone trilled. Richie clicked the 'answer' button and watched as a text message scrolled across the LCD screen: **Tgt ahd. Attack AB ^_^;**

Richie looked up and saw the long low-slung shape of the _Thunderball _cutting through the waves. Richie tensed. This was it. Misty's plan, which was fantastically aggressive and made Richie think of Ash's more dramatic attack schemes, involved them immobilising the yacht using their Dragonites' Ice Beam attack. They would then use whatever means to hand to disable its' weaponry before boarding it to find and free Ash.

***

Butch looked up from Ash Ketchum's still form when the Battle Stations alarm began to shriek. He ran from the cell/sick room, scaled six flights of stairs and rushed onto the _Thunderball_'s bridge. "Report!" he snapped.

The yacht's captain, currently dressed in the white uniform of a merchant seaman, turned to him immediately. "We've detected three airborne targets approaching us at high velocity," he reported. "Our radar returns are only weak and we are not picking up any significant heat sources, so they must be Pokémon."

Butch strode over to the radar display and looked at the three dots, clearly in a military-style 'vic' formation, as they approached the yacht. "Arm our Sea Sparrow batteries," he ordered. "Fire eight rounds the moment they come within 25 miles."

***

As the three flying Pokémon rushed towards the Thunderball, Misty was the first to see the white smoke trails blossom from its' fore-deck as eight surface-to-air missiles blasted into the air. She waved her right hand in the air, ordering her friends to evade the incoming attack.

Dragonite and Tempest easily avoided the century-old SAMs. Jessie, James and Meowth (riding Fearaven) didn't, however. Instead, the black scavenger bird fired a red-gold energy bolt that vaporised one of the missiles targeted on them. The explosion tore apart the second as well. Misty shook her head in a combination of amazement and admiration. _Jessie and James_, she thought. _Those two just love to be different_.

Almost immediately, the _Thunderball_'s camouflaged 50mm AAA turrets rose out of their housings and began to spit explosive/tracer bullets. Misty lay down flat against Dragonite's neck and stroked her, encouraging her to dive to sea level and accelerate to her top speed.

The three Pokémon, now in line astern formation, shot across the _Thunderball_'s bows at about 1,500 mph, raising a twenty-foot high wall of water sucked up by their passage. The yacht struck the shock wave and began to pitch and roll wildly. Inside, the crew had to scramble to keep at their positions. In the moment of confusion, no one noticed as Dragonite and Tempest turned back around; both unleashed their Ice Beam attacks.

***

Butch was thrown across the Bridge as the _Thunderball _suddenly lurched to a halt. "What the hell is happening?" he yelled.

"Those Pokémon must have used an ice attack!" the Captain blurted to him. "We're stuck in an ice sheet!"

Butch turned and looked at the massive field of ice now surrounding the immobilised pirate warship. "Have our main guns fire down into the ice," he ordered. The next order was more difficult to issue, but he was sure that the Boss would prefer having his prisoner returned, even if it meant losing most of his luxury yacht. "Prepare for emergency separation. Order the crew in the aft section to repel any borders. Remind them that the Organisation expects them to fight to the _death_."

***

The _Thunderball_'s guns were firing randomly into the air, trying to keep the marauding Team Thunderbolt Pokémon away. Jessie ordered Fearaven around in a tight turn and then told her flying-type to unleash an Omni-blast attack. The energy bolt tore off one of the AAA cannon turrets and made all the windows in the upper starboard aft section of the boat shatter and blow out.

Inside that section of the yacht, Cassidy dropped to the floor with a startled cry as the windows of her cabin exploded outward. The shock wave stunned and deafened her for a moment. When she was able to look up again, she saw something that made her smile evilly. The concussion had burst open the door to her cabin. Lying on a table outside was her pistol and her Pokébelt. With a demented laugh, and ignoring the blood streaming out of her ears, she leapt forward, ready to embrace freedom and vengeance.

Simultaneously, Misty's Dragonite dropped into a hover above the immobilised yacht. A turret turned to face the hovering flying/water-type, only to be melted into slag by a Flame-thrower attack launched by Brock's Ninetails. Misty grinned at her friend and then turned to the tan-and-yellow electric squirrel sitting beside her. "Are you ready Raichu?" she asked.

[I'm ready, Misty,] Raichu chirped excitedly.

Misty grinned. "Off you go then." Raichu, who was wearing a Pokébelt wrapped around him like a sash, leapt off the Dragonite's back and landed on top of the yacht's Bridge area. Misty watched until he ducked through a broken window into the interior of the boat, and then urged Dragonite to launch herself into the air again.

As Dragonite climbed away, the yacht's automatic 105-mm cannon finished punching holes around the forward section of the boat. There was a whine of powerful gas turbine engines building up to full power, followed a second later by a series of loud bangs as explosive bolts separated the fore and aft sections of the ship.

As Misty watched, the fore section of the yacht (which reminded her of some speedboats she saw in Cerulean City Harbour) suddenly accelerated away. It rose up out of the water on three slender foils and roared towards the horizon at fifty knots. The rest of the ship, still bristling with armament, continued to fire at the three Pokémon soaring around it. Misty frowned and, in a way that would have made Ash proud, adapted her plan on the spot. "Brock, we've got to finish off this armed barge," she said. "We need to know where that Hydrofoil is going. Get Golbat to follow it."

Brock nodded and released his bat-like earth-type. He activated the homing beacon that Richie (their resident electronic genius) had created. "Golbat, follow that fast boat," he ordered, "but try to keep out of sight!"

[I'm on it, Brock,] Golbat replied. He rose away with a flutter of leathery wings and soared off after the hydrofoil.

***

Inside said hydrofoil, Raichu had been surprised by the sudden acceleration of the supposedly immobilised vessel. Still, he had an assignment, and it was too important to him for anything to stand in his way.

Reaching back, he knocked one of Ash's Pokéballs off the belt Misty had wrapped around him. This was a special Pokéball, all black with a blue strip painted around the equator. Raichu leaned forward and pressed the 'release' control.

There was a flash of white light and a group of twenty-six Pokémon in the shape of letters materialised above him. The group of Pokémon was circling each other endlessly in eye straining patterns. [Huh? Where's Ash…? Oh, hello Raichu,] Unown moaned in their unearthly voices.

[Ash is somewhere aboard this ship, Unown,] Raichu explained quickly. [We have to find him; can you lead me there?]

Without a word, Unown stopped its' endless rotations and the 'F' glyph swept forward. The glyph began to glow and the cluster of powerful psi-types began to drift forward. Raichu fumbled Unown's Pokéball back onto the belt and scampered off to find his friend.

***

The sailors of Team Rocket had fought hard and well, but they couldn't hold off the raw firepower of Team Thunderbolt forever. The last weapons turret exploded as Brock's Graveler tore through it like a sentient avalanche. Misty's Dragonite, Richie's Tempest and Jessie's Fearaven landed on the flat roof.

Misty turned to Sabrina hopefully. The blonde psychic closed her eyes and frowned in concentration. She sighed regretfully and looked Misty in the eye. "I'm sorry, Misty," she said. "I can't sense him. He may be comatose, of course, or they may have placed him in a shielded container of some kind." To Sabrina's surprise, her friend seemed to have expected that news.

"Okay, spread out, people," Misty ordered. "I figure Ash is on that hydrofoil that lit out of here so quickly, but we've got to be sure."

There was a chorus of "right" and "let's do it," as Misty and her seven friends began to spread out through the aft section, looking for Ash.

Lance's Hitmonchan physically tore through the aft bulkhead and strode into what looked like a bar. Lance and Sabrina were a second behind him as a group of Rockets appeared over the bar. They were armed with what were either sub-machineguns or assault rifles. "Hitmonchan, Aurora Shield," Lance ordered. The bullets flashed forward and clattered uselessly against the fighting-type's defence. "Now use Beserker," Lance continued.

Hitmonchan charged forward, physically tearing the bar apart. Rockets flew hither and yon as Hitmonchan's giant gloved fists lashed out. Suddenly Sabrina sensed something… "Lance look out!" she screamed. Lance barely dodged the giant Rocket who suddenly burst out from behind a chair, waving an axe.

Sabrina was so angry at seeing someone attack Lance that she didn't even bother to use one of her Pokémon. She stared at the big terrorist, her eyes suddenly glowing with an unearthly power. The terrorist screamed and collapsed, blood flowing freely from his ears, nose, mouth and from behind his eyes. Lance didn't know what Sabrina had just done and he didn't _want_ to know. The haunted look on his girlfriend's face told him everything that he needed to know.

Misty, with her Starmie leading the way, was slicing through the lower decks like a chainsaw through paper. As she emerged onto the aft pool deck/helicopter pad, she noticed something behind her. "Starmie, Shuriken attack!" she ordered, stabbing her finger out to the right. Her water-type suddenly flashed through the air and struck the Vileplume that was hiding among the potted plants.

The plant-type staggered out and tried to use its' Double-edge attack. Starmie dodged it easily, following Misty's non-vocal cues to loop through the attack and strike the Vileplume again. Misty pointed to the deck and mimed a punch. Starmie dropped back down to the deck and fired a Water Gun attack that blew the Vileplume off the vessel and into the water. "Ha! Great shot, Starmie," Misty crowed.

[No problems, Misty… Look out!] Misty turned just in time to see a figure in a black Team Rocket uniform lash out with what looked like a boat hook. Misty rolled with the attack, but it still knocked her over the rail and into the sea.

Misty looked up and saw Cassidy swagger forward. "Hmm… you're all wet," the blonde woman announced with a demented giggle. "You know you are in the wrong place, you Scrawny Brat."

Misty was unaffected by the taunt. She had grown up, and wasn't affected by these childish names that Rockets liked to call her any more. The old phrase that went 'sticks and stones…' came to mind. "Yeah, I know," Misty shouted back, wiping her wet hair from her face. "Never fear, Cassidy, we'll pull him off of that hydrofoil soon enough."

"Maybe," Cassidy allowed with a smirk, "but there won't be much left of him." Cassidy laughed, a near-hysterical scream of laughter. "He's used goods, little miss perfect," she explained. "I just spent one lousy hour showing him how _I _relax… and he went crazy! Can you imagine?"

Misty went pale. That comment had lots of possible meanings, none of them pleasant. "You… _bitch_," she shouted. "What did you do to him?"

"I just showed him another side of pleasure," Cassidy said, her voice sadistic and sensual. "You may find that, if he ever wakes up, he has some interesting new skills." Cassidy started laughing again as she looked at the expression of revulsion and horror on Misty's face. She laughed and laughed until she cried. Suddenly she screamed "_Shut up!_" and stopped laughing.

Misty was furious… no _murderous_. James may have had a prior claim on this piece of dirt, but _he_ wasn't here. She touched a Pokéball on her bandoleer. Maybe some time playing with Tentacruel would cure Cassidy of her love of pain…

"Oh no you don't," Cassidy snapped, her gold-plated semi-auto flashing out of its' holster. There was a long, frozen pause as Cassidy looked at the gun as if she had never seen it before. "No," she decided after a second. "No, that's too easy." Cassidy reached behind her and pulled out a Pokéball. "This way will be more fun… Gyarados, I choose you!" Cassidy's giant water snake materialised in the water and glared at Misty. "Din-dins, Gyarados, dear," Cassidy giggled.

Misty smirked. "Oh sister, are you in for a surprise," she said. She wasn't just going to _beat_ this bitch… she was going to _humiliate _her. "Horsee, I choose you!"

***

The hydrofoil section of the _Thunderball_ raced through the water. Its' crew was finding it a bumpy ride, but they felt a certain relief that they had escaped the attack of the dreaded Team Thunderbolt. 

Inside, down on E-deck, a Black Rocket was guarding a cell where the Organisation's arch-foe… what was left of him anyway… was tied to a bed surrounded by medical equipment. It was taking all of the guard's concentration to keep his balance, so he didn't notice the swirling cluster of twenty-six Pokémon shaped like letters until it was hovering in front of his face.

"What the hell is this…?" he blurted, uncertain of whether to raise his gun. The point suddenly became moot when a Thunder-shock flashed from behind him, making his muscles spasm and cramp uselessly. The Rocket tried to scream but failed, and then he plunged into the dark.

Raichu looked up at Unown. [Is he in here?] the electric squirrel asked.

[Definitely,] Unown replied.

[Well, let's get in there,] Raichu suggested. Unown's cluster swirled for a moment until the glyph shaped like a letter 'B' was in the front. The 'Bear' attack generated a psionic force beam, which blew off the armoured door of the cell and made it 'clang' against the far bulkhead. 

Raichu ran in to see Ash lying in the bed. The little Pokémon tried to restrain his tears, noting his Trainer's battered condition and the terrifying _dead_ blankness of his expression.

__

It hurt… a lot. It wasn't just physical pain, but the humiliation and emotional pain too. Despite the injuries that monstrous harlot inflicted, somehow she managed to make it feel good… that is the real horror of it… I won't take anymore… I'd rather go away…

"Rai-ai? Raichu-ai-ai-ra-chu-rai-ai!"

__

Raichu? No, it can't be… This is another trick, like the time they tried to make out Brock and Joy had betrayed me… He isn't here… he can't be here… can he?

My arms and legs feel different… Are they free? I would like to move to find out, but I can't. No matter how I try, I can't knock down these walls I put up to protect me from what Cassidy was doing to me…I wish that I could blink, or even just change the rhythm of my breathing. But how do I know that this isn't a trick…? I daren't let them see I have become aware again… I daren't!

What… what is this?

A cluster of shapes dropped down into his view… twenty-six shapes, each reminiscent of a letter of the Roman alphabet. As he watched, the one shaped like an 'H' moved foremost and began to glow. Warmth and light flowed through him, and he found that he could gasp and draw in deep breaths.

__

There is one Pokémon that no one knows I have, except maybe Misty. My friends have come for me… I will awaken. I am Ash Ketchum and I am free!

"Free…" Ash said. He blinked once and looked up at Unown. Raichu was standing on his chest, looking down at him in concern. "Unown… Raichu! Oh, God, please let this be real!"

[Ash, are you all right?] Raichu asked. 

Ash responded by lunging forward and hugging the electric squirrel hard. After a moment, he was able to release his oldest friend and let him chew through the straps holding his ankle. Ash slid out of bed, his limbs shaky and uncertain after weeks of disuse and abuse. Unown's 'Help' special ability had healed most of his injuries and built up his strength a little, but it would still be weeks before he was back to full health again. Ash noted that he was naked and grimaced slightly. "Well, so much for dignity," he said. At that point, the room lurched and he barely avoided a nasty fall.

"What the hell was that?" Ash blurted

[We're on a high-speed sea vessel of some sort,] Raichu explained. Ash's eyes narrowed as he took that in. It made a lot of sense, and it explained quite a bit.

"Then lets' get out of here…" Ash looked down. "I might want to find some clothes first," he added quietly.

[There was a guard outside the cell,] Raichu said with a mischievous grin. [He won't need his uniform any time in the near future.] Ash laughed and moved to drag the said guard into the cell so he could donate his clothing to the 'Free Ash Ketchum' fund.

***

"Gyarados, Body Slam!"

"Horsee, Bubble Beam attack!" The TR water snake charged towards Misty's diminutive seahorse and right into a cloud of hydrogen gas bubbles. The bubbles burst on impact and Gyarados was suddenly encased in blue-white hydrogen fire for a second. The creature roared in pain and thrashed helplessly.

Cassidy's wild, untamed expression went utterly insane for a split second. She hissed in rage and shook her head, trying to focus her thoughts. "You stupid snake!" she shrieked. "Pull yourself together and kill that stupid Brat!"

"Horsee, Smokescreen," Misty ordered. Horsee spat out a cloud of ink that made visibility drop to zero. Gyarados, trying to obey his Trainer, charged, missed his targets and struck the hull of the _Thunderball_'s aft section, making the whole ship pitch and roll wildly. Cassidy lost her footing and collapsed. Misty took the opportunity to finish the battle. "Great job, Horsee, now use Tail Whip and follow up with Take Down!"

Horsee swam right up to the stunned water snake and slapped her prehensile tail right in between his eyes. She swam off to a short distance and then shot back in as fast as she could, slamming her small body against Gyarados' head. Gyarados couldn't take any more. His eyes rolled up into his big skull and he floated serenely to the surface, unconscious.

"Yeah, great job, Horsee!" Misty shouted. Suddenly, the little water-type was surrounded with bright blue light. As Misty looked on, he disappeared in the light, which swelled until it was three- or four-times larger than before, and then it faded. In Horsee's place was a Seadra. "Or should I say 'Seadra,'" Misty continued with a laugh. "Well done! Now, use Slash on this over-grown bathtub!"

Seadra shot forward and carved open a hundred-foot gash in the _Thunderball_'s side with his flank spines. Above her, Cassidy staggered to her feet and ran forward, brandishing a Pokéball. "You'll pay for this you little whore!" she shrieked. "Go Kadabra!"

Misty responded immediately. "Togepi, I choose you!"

Cassidy laughed, contemptuously rather than insanely this time. "I don't believe it!" she shouted. "You are putting your little baby _egg_ against my Kadabra?" She shook her head. "Just swat the little omelette, Kadabra," Cassidy said. "Use Psi Beam."

Misty countered by making a 'T' shape with her hands and then shouting "Teleport!" The blue-white psychic energy bolt zapped through the point where Togepi had been hovering a second before. The little egg-like psi-type materialised behind Kadabra and his eyes began to glow. Kadabra froze in fear and began to shake as the Terror attack took him by surprise. Cassidy spun to see the little psi-type behind her just as Misty ordered "Nightmare!" 

Cassidy saw something like a rainbow wave of light flashing out from the floating egg before she started to scream. Nightmares and the full power of every sin she had ever committed all came rushing up as monsters and imaginary knives that began to flay her alive. Cassidy fell to her knees, almost ready to surrender to the shadows of madness forever, but she was strong enough to moan out a command. "Kadabra… concentrate," she gasped at her psychic-type. "Use Light Screen." A blue-white bubble formed around Pokémon and Trainer. 

Cassidy gasped in relief as she was suddenly freed of the hallucinations. Her mind was suddenly clear in many ways, in fact, but she had to finish this battle before she could consider that in any depth. "Shadow Ball," she ordered.

Kadabra wound up and threw a blue-white ball of psychic energy. The blast struck Togepi full on and sent him tumbling away from the deck of the _Thunderball_. Cassidy, feeling overconfident, let Kadabra walk past her to get closer to his opponent, who was hovering over the flat top of the yacht. She even slapped him on the shoulder as he walked past. "Ha! Great shot, now finish that little egg with Psychic Storm!"

A massive corona of energy built up around Kadabra. Cassidy looked over her shoulder. Misty had climbed onto Seadra and was using the water-type as a platform to stand on. She didn't seem to be worried by Kadabra's imminent attack. "Mirror Coat," she said with a slight smile.

"Oh shit, no…" Cassidy said, less than a second before Kadabra fired a massive blast of psychic power. The blast struck Togepi's defence and reflected right back at the TR Pokémon. The impact blew Kadabra back into his Trainer and sent both of them tumbling up to the edge of the yacht's helicopter pad. The backwash of the psychic attack flared over Cassidy, making her mind boil with agony.

When Cassidy recovered enough to look again, she saw Togepi suddenly turn into a glowing ball of blue-white power. The light swelled, changed its shape and then faded. In the egg's place was a little humanoid creature with insectoid wings. "Toge-toge-tic!" he said smugly.

"Well done to you, Togetic!" Misty said. "Give me a lift, will you?" The fairy-like psi-type turned slightly and gestured with his delicate hand. Misty was surrounded by a blue glow that lifted her out of the water to alight on the deck beside her Pokémon. Misty recalled Starmie and Seadra before turning to Cassidy. "Are you ready to surrender, yet?"

Cassidy suddenly realised that the battle was lost. The barge was listing hard to the starboard as water flooded in through the gash Seadra had opened up below the waterline. It was unlikely that any of her other Pokémon would do better than Vileplume, Gyarados or Kadabra. With the sudden supernatural clarity that had followed the reflected Psychic Storm attack, Cassidy realised that her duty lay elsewhere. She reached into her boot and pulled out a smoke grenade. "I will _never_ surrender," she hissed.

When the smoke cleared, Misty stepped forward to watch the terrorist woman fleeing on her Pidgeot. "Another time, then," she promised.

As the terrorist soared away, James and Jessie suddenly rushed out onto the pool deck. "Cassidy is getting away!" he shouted. "I'll deal with this!" He put his hand to his Pokéball bandoleer, probably intending to summon his Speareagle.

Misty put her hand on his shoulder to restrain him. "Leave her, James," she ordered. He gave her a look of angry frustration. "You can catch up with her some other time," Misty continued, looking him right in the eye. "Right now, I want you to move all of the Rockets off of this sinking tub onto the icebergs, okay? I'm going to get Ash."

James nodded uncertainly, but relaxed. He watched as Misty recalled Togetic, released her Dragonite, and flew off into the heavens, following the beacon signal from Brock's Golbat.

***

Butch left the Bridge about five minutes after the separation. He felt bad about leaving all those sailors and agents behind to the Thunderbolts' tender mercies. Oh, he knew that they wouldn't _kill_ anyone (although why they restrained themselves, he would never know). Still, the courts were merciless to captured Rockets. Everyone who survived was looking at 20 to 30 years in The Anvil, the ultra-maximum security prison near the South Pole. 

He felt bad about leaving Cassidy behind too. When he was a kid, he had a crush on her, it was true but recently… well at least the authorities would send her to a hospital where she would receive the help she needed.

With a sigh, he walked aft to the small cabin that he would share with three others for the six hour journey to Black Island. He turned a corner and walked right into Ash Ketchum. Butch's mind went blank for several seconds as he stared at his former prisoner. Ash was half-naked and was, insanely, wearing the uniform trousers and boots of a Dan'in fighter. "Uh… what… when…?" Butch asked stupidly. His mind suddenly went back into 'drive' and he went for his gun. 

Ash stepped forward and drove two fast punches into Butch's face. He then reached forward, grabbed Butch's wrist, and twisted. Butch yelled in pain and dropped the pistol. Ash halt-turned and drove his elbow into the terrorist's gut. Butch folded double, then something hard struck him on the nape of his neck and he tumbled into the black. Ash stepped back and rubbed his hand, sore from the karate chop that he had just used. _I'm getting out of shape_, he told himself.

A few seconds later, Ash's Graveler tore through the rear bulkhead of the Bridge and smashed right through the helm of the hydrofoil. There was utter panic as the massive rock-type wrought his particular brand of havoc in the compartment. Ash stepped through the hole in the wall and slammed the butt of the magnum automatic pistol he had acquired from Butch against the right temple of someone who tried to grab him.

"You idiot!" the Captain cried. "The ship is out of control now! We'll crash into the rocks ahead."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Then I would start swimming, if I were you," he remarked.

"You are insane!" the Captain shouted, drawing his service pistol. Ash barely gestured and Raichu Stun-shocked the man unconscious. There was a pause before the crew opened a side door and started jumping overboard. Ash threw the unconscious bodies of Butch and the Captain after them. Then, he reached down to the Pokébelt he wore and drew a blue-and-white Aqua-Ball.

Several decks below, Clustanode dropped out of an air vent into the engine room. The orange-uniformed Team Rocket engineers barely had the chance to realise something was going wrong when the electric-type detonated, tearing the engines apart.

***

Approaching fast from behind, Misty saw the hydrofoil suddenly go out of control and veer towards the volcanic mini-islands that stretched between Cinnabar Island and Black Island. Less than a minute later, she could only watch in horror as a massive explosion tore apart the rear quarter of the fast-moving ship. It continued onwards for a few hundred yards and then slammed into one of the islands. Seconds later it exploded in a massive fireball.

"_Ash… NO_!" she shouted.

[Misty, look below us!] Dragonite said encouragingly.

Misty looked down in surprised and then laughed in joy. There was a sight that she had hoped to see for many long, nightmarish weeks; now it was a reality. Ash stood on Lapras' back, Raichu clinging to his back in turn. Clustanode and Unown hovered to either side, while Graveler was waving wildly with his rocky arms. Ash's Chancey was examining her Trainer carefully, looking rather worried.

Ash waved to his lover with a broad smile. "Nice of you to come, Misty," he yelled. "Sorry you missed the party!" Misty shook her head and had to laugh again.

***

Jessie squealed in excitement and grabbed James' arm tightly. "Here he comes!" she shouted. Overhead, Ash's Charizard and Misty's Dragonite dropped gracefully towards the small wharf outside Vermilion City where Team Thunderbolt was gathered.

Charizard alighted delicately and Ash leapt down, a move slightly hampered by Raichu, who wouldn't release his grip on his Trainer for a second. "Hey guys, what's the big occasion?" Ash asked with a broad and slightly silly smile. That was the last thing he had the time to say. Jessie, James, Richie, Sabrina, Lance, Brock and even Meowth swept forward to hug him, slap him on the back and (in Jessie and Sabrina's cases) place a gentle kiss on his cheek.

"Hey watch it… _ouch_, I'm still delicate in places," Ash protested. 

Misty got off Dragonite and walked slowly towards Ash. The others parted like a tide as she walked closer and closer. Finally, they were almost touching. "I… I kept my promise, Ash," Misty said quietly. She managed a slight smile as Ash raised his eyebrows and gave her a wry smile. "I looked after them as best I knew how. Now I can return the Team to you."

"You did wonderfully as far as I can tell," Ash said with a grin. Then his voice became quiet and sincere. "Thanks for coming for me, Misty."

"Oh, how could I do anything else?" Misty asked, sucking in a sob, her face twisted with the power of the moment. "You know I'm not complete without you."

Ash didn't reply at first. Instead he spent some time drinking in the sight before him. He examined her ginger hair, tied back into a flowing ponytail. He stared into those cerulean green eyes, so filled with love and concern. He minutely examined every curve and line of her athletic body and her smooth, smiling face. He realised that he couldn't wait to hold that vibrant source of joy as close as he could.

Misty, too, was elsewhere. He was a bit thinner, and he had a few more scars. Most worryingly, there was a terrible pain in his chocolate brown eyes. However, there was love there too. There was that quirky smile that always made her feel better, no matter how bad the times were. That scruffy black hair and that casual body language all helped her realise that he was _alive_ and _free_.

"I know that you are what kept me alive and sane through that hell," Ash said sincerely. "Seeing you again has made it all worthwhile, my love." 

Ash stepped forward and engulfed Misty in his arms. Misty hugged him back, tears streaming down her cheeks. Ash loosened his hold for a second and leaned down so he could claim a kiss… a kiss that he had waited for what felt like a lifetime to receive. That is when the cheers started, human cries of triumph and the even louder shrieks, howls and roars of Pokémon. As their friends cheered them on, Ash and Misty hugged and kissed, unaware of anything except the fact that they were reunited.

***

Out in the Indigo Sea, near Black Island, Butch Williams pulled himself out of the water onto the small volcanic island. Somehow, he had survived the destruction of the hydrofoil, although he didn't feel particularly good about that fact.

Suddenly, there was a whirl of feathers. He looked up and saw Cassidy, riding on her Pidgeot, glide down towards him. "So, Butch," she said, "do you want a lift?" He gave her an uncertain look, noting that she was armed and carrying her full load of Pokémon, while he felt like a half-drowned rat. Cassidy sighed in impatience. "Look, Butch, we can discuss your going to the Boss about Ketchum's mental state later. Right now we've got to figure out what we're going to tell the him about this debacle." She shrugged and laughed easily. "Still, on the bright side, at least we won't have to explain how Ketchum ended up catatonic."

"No," Butch responded in his grating voice. "Instead we're going to have to explain how Ash Ketchum, alive and well, escaped us to oppose Team Rocket again."

Cassidy stared at Butch for a long time. "You're kidding me," she said uncertainly. Butch shook his head. "Holy shit," she said. "I picked a damn bad time to rediscover the joys of sanity."

Butch actually laughed. He got up on Pidgeot's back and the two villains flew off to face their leader. Neither of them expected much in the way of mercy, but they were alive for now and that is all that mattered.

***

Old Mondo was incredibly surprised that Giovanni didn't explode when he heard of the loss of the _Thunderball_. The leader of Team Rocket sat there thoughtfully for a long moment before speaking. "Has there been any report on the status of my son?" he asked at last.

Now Mondo was _terrified_. He didn't know how to tell Giovanni this, so he desperately flailed around mentally, trying to think of something… _anything_… that would deflect the Boss's anger from himself. He failed. Only his incredible loyalty to Giovanni made him answer the question. "Uh… Butch Williams said that he saw Ash… aware and mobile… a few minutes before the destruction of the _Thunderball_'s forward section, sir," he said at last. "I don't know how it is possible, but it seems like your son recovered… and escaped."

There was a long pause after that. Giovanni was stroking his Persian meditatively for some time before he spoke. "When Butch and Cassidy arrive at headquarters, I want you to debrief them yourself," Giovanni instructed. "After that, they are to be confined to quarters pending the appointment of a disciplinary committee to examine their conduct of the entire mission." Mondo nodded and made a note on his PDA to that effect. "I believe that we can still recover from this debacle and secure my son's service to the Cause, if not necessarily his loyalty. However it is a strategy to which only I can be privy. Now leave me," Giovanni instructed.

"Sir?" Mondo was surprised.

"I still have a few cards to play, old friend," Giovanni explained warmly. "But there are some things so secret that I cannot reveal them even to you. Trust me on this." Mondo was reluctant, but he nodded his understanding and left Giovanni's office.

Giovanni waited for a few moments, using his incredible tactical and strategic sense to examine this path for any faults. He considered this strategy filled with real and probable failings that made its' likelihood of success _marginal_ at best, but it remained the best plan available at such short notice. However, he would be a poor leader if he did not consider the alternatives. Even as he typed a telephone number into his videophone's keypad, he was quickly assembling several contingency plans in the event of a worst-case scenario.

The phone rang three times before a familiar face appeared. "_Hello?_" the person said in a sleepy tone of voice.

"Hello again, my young friend," Giovanni said. "I trust you are enjoying the wealth I have provided for you?"

"_Giovanni diRocketti?_" the Betrayer blurted. "_Shit! Why are you contacting me again?_"

"Something has come up that has persuaded me that Team Rocket requires your services once again," Giovanni purred smoothly. "You might be interested to know that young Mr. Ketchum's allies have secured his release from my agents."

There was a pause and Giovanni smiled scornfully as he saw the terror on the Betrayer's face. "_Uh… well that's too bad Mr. diRocketti,_" he finally replied, "_but I don't see why this is my problem_."

"Why my problems are _your_ problems now, my young ally," Giovanni replied with a sneering laugh. "I will be direct and to the point my young friend. I believe that I may yet be able to remove Ketchum _and_ his allies from circulation, but I will require one simple service from you to attain to that goal."

"_No, forget it,_" the Betrayer said. "_Our agreement was for me to put Ash in a place and time where you could capture him that one time, nothing more._"

"I am altering our agreement," Giovanni explained. "Pray that I don't see fit to alter it still further, say by assigning a Team Rocket garrison to provide security at your Pokémon Gym."

"_No!_" the Betrayer almost shouted. "_You can't! If I am linked with Team Rocket, I'll be ruined!_"

Giovanni sighed gently. _Ah, the naivety of youth,_ he thought nostalgically. _Was I ever that simple-minded? Probably not, this particular individual's intellect is clouded by a truly remarkable ego. He actually believes that the whole world should arrange itself according to his desires simply because he wishes it! No wonder my son holds him in such contempt!_ Giovanni sat forward. "You have no choice, my young friend," he purred. "From the moment you agreed to betray Ash Ketchum to me, you were mine, body and soul." The Betrayer opened his mouth to argue. "Believe me that you do _not_ want to face the consequences of trying to leave my service."

"_You… you wouldn't dare do anything to me…_" the Betrayer said in a hoarse, terrified voice.

"Why not?" Giovanni asked. "If you will not serve me, then what reason have I got to do you any favours?"

"_All right_," the Betrayer said after a moment of quiet fretting. "_Tell me what you want_."

"It is quite simple," Giovanni said. "I know that a great number of people who are most important to Mr. Ketchum live in Pallet Town. If they were in my power, then influencing his actions would be far simpler than it is at present. However, the town is protected by Professor Oak's remarkable defence grid. If my agents are to… secure these critical persons, then it must be deactivated. That is your task."

The Betrayer began to sweat. "_Hand the entire town over to you?_" he asked in horror. "_You're insane! I can't do it… I won't!_"

"But you will," Giovanni replied. "You are my creature now, my naïve young friend. Or perhaps you would prefer it if I were to leak to Mr. Ketchum and his allies your role in his capture?"

"_He… he would kill me,_" the Betrayer moaned.

"Eventually, yes," Giovanni said with a sadistic smirk, reminding his reluctant agent that there were ways of dealing with traitors that made death a reward rather than a punishment.

The Betrayer almost collapsed in on himself. It was an utter destruction of spirit and hope that made Giovanni feel very, _very_ good. "_Okay_," he croaked. "_I'll do it, damn your eyes. When?_"

"Tomorrow morning at exactly 0100 hours," Giovanni responded. He leaned forward and was about to cut off the call when it occurred to him that he should make this young man perfectly aware of his position. "Oh, and welcome to Team Rocket," he said. "Long may you serve." He enjoyed the look of fear on the Betrayer's face as he disconnected the call.

***

After a period of frantic activity of the most enjoyable kind, it had at last fallen silent in the small hotel room in Viridian City. Misty Waterflower and Ash Ketchum were lying on their bed, naked save for a fine film of sweat, content in simply being together again.

After a while, Misty smiled sensually and reached out to stroke Ash's face. "I… should arrange for you to be kidnapped a little more frequently," she said with a hoarse laugh. "It does wonders for your performance. You make it worth every second I wait to have you back."

Ash chuckled a little and grabbed Misty's hand so he could kiss it. "All throughout those two weeks… my God was it only two weeks…? All throughout I was having dreams, hallucinations really, about seeing you and loving you again. It was what kept me alive in that hell." Misty blushed prettily when she heard that. Ash grasped Misty's hands in his and held drew them to his heart. "Thank you for staying with me tonight, Misty. It's good to remember that this is meant to be a pleasure, not a torture."

In the darkness of the hotel room, Misty felt tears start in her eyes and was glad Ash couldn't see them. He had pain enough of his own and he shouldn't have to know that it hurt _her_ too. "I can't imagine what you must have gone through, Ash," she said. "I don't _want_ to imagine… but remember that you're free of her now. I still love you and I always will; nothing that whore could do would change that."

Ash made a sound that sounded like a sob to Misty, and he buried his face in her bosom. She could feel the tears trickling down his face and she stroked his hair, trying to comfort him. "Thank you," he whispered again. "I'm always yours, even if I am… soiled goods now." There was such self-loathing in that statement that Misty had to respond.

"No, damn you," she hissed. "Don't ever say that to me. It _wasn't your fault_, Ash. I know you feel dirty and used, but you mustn't let it break you!" Misty sighed and stroked Ash's hairy chest for a few moments before continuing, putting every ounce of love and friendship she had to offer into her voice. "What she forced from you can't ever make what you are willing to _share_ with me worth any less."

Then, Ash began to cry openly. Misty, feeling helpless, held him until his tears were spent. Even after the sobs had died down, she felt a tension in his body that she did not understand, but she knew that it was bad news. "Tell me, Ash," she said.

There was a long pause before Ash spoke, his voice quiet and uncertain. "Misty, you know that Cassidy…" Ash's voice trailed off. Even in the mid-21st Century, it was still considered taboo and unspeakable that such a thing could happen. "You know that she… _raped_ me," Ash finally continued. He drew in a deep, shuddering breath. "She did things…" he shook his head and went off in another direction entirely. "Parts of what we've just shared hurt, Misty," Ash said, his voice anguished. Misty gasped and drew herself closer to him, feeling a confused sense of guilt and dread. "I'm afraid… I'm afraid that she may have caused some permanent damage."

Misty swallowed dryly. Ash had told her enough about Cassidy's obscene appetites for her to know what he meant. Unown's 'Help' special ability had healed up the cuts and scratches, but deeper damage was definitely a possibility. She tried to comfort Ash by dealing with the matter practically. "When we get to Pallet, talk to Joy," she suggested. "You know that she's a fine biologist _and _a doctor for humans and Pokémon. She'll be able to tell you if you need any medical treatment."

Ash nodded in agreement, still not entirely free of the darkness yet. Misty decided that he needed to be distracted. "Until then," she added mischievously, "we should find out _what_ bits hurt and adjust our methods accordingly, okay?"

"What…?" Ash blurted, and then he gasped in surprise and pleasure as Misty suddenly rolled on top of him. "Oh… boy, Misty!"

***

It was an inappropriately warm and sunny morning, Ash Ketchum would later remember, as Team Thunderbolt (minus Joy and Duplicia, who were back at Pallet Town setting up the team's new headquarters at Professor Oak's laboratories) set out for home. 

Misty reflected that for the first time in weeks, there was no pall of darkness over her friends. James had regained much of his usual equanimity and was walking arm-in-arm with Jessie. Richie had actually unbent enough to offer Sabrina some water from his canteen. Meowth and Raichu were chattering excitedly in their own languages. There was only one problem in left in this particular happy family: Ash. Misty could sense the darkness and pain that still crowded around him. She kept telling herself that she should expect this after the unimaginable torments inflicted upon him by Team Rocket. _A little time in Pallet with his family will help him heal_, she told herself.

Then… the world came to an end.

"Where the hell have all these army trucks come from?" Richie complained, as the seven friends had to walk onto the grassy verge again. "That makes twenty in the last five minutes."

"Maybe something is up," Sabrina said thoughtfully. It was times like this that she wished she could turn the precognitive aspect of her psychic talents 'on' or 'off' at will.

Ash watched as another sextet of heavy vehicles roared past; these ones painted white with World Health Organisation ID graphics. All of them were heading along Route 1. There was only one place that this could take them, and that was… home…

Ash began to run. As he left the protection of Viridian Forest, he was confronted by the rolling Pallet Hills, the edges of the deep limestone valley in which his hometown was built. He would have to be blind or simply stupid not to see the thick black smoke rising up from behind them. He staggered to a halt, his six friends, who were running behind him, lurched to a stop too. 

"Oh no," Misty gasped. "What could have happened?" As the seven looked on, they could see the first refugees streaming down the road away from Pallet; most of them battered, smoke-blackened and destitute. It looked as if half the population of the town was fleeing from the terrible disaster that had suddenly taken place.

"Mom," Ash whispered. Suddenly, Charizard was out of his Pokéball and Ash was riding his big friend over the hills towards his hometown.

***

Misty couldn't cry. The sight around her was just too terrible for her to even feel grief. She could only feel an utter empty horror in the pit of her stomach.

Pallet Town didn't really exist anymore. All around them was the sign of a terrifying and absolute rout. Every building was ablaze. Every tree had been pulled down. Every road had been broken up by rock-type attacks. WHO trauma teams worked desperately, trying to find survivors amongst the bodies piled up on every corner like stacked wood. Everywhere was the stench of smoke, fear and death.

Ash was standing in the middle of the ruins of the town square, making a sound somewhere between crying and the shriek of a person who had finally lost his soul. The picturesque square, the place where Misty and he had enjoyed their first date, was in ruins. The graceful town hall was a blazing shell and the obelisk marking the spot where the first earth was broken at the time the founding of the town in 2002 had been demolished with explosives. Someone had stuck a banner into its' ruins, a black flag marked with a blood-red capital letter 'R.'

Misty walked over to Ash, needing his touch and his reassurance. Ash shrugged her aside without even glancing at her. Instead, he began to run towards the outskirts of town and Professor Oak's laboratories.

***

The lab was in ruins, its' buildings ablaze and its' grounds filled with dead Pokémon who had simply been slaughtered with machineguns. The blackened walls of the laboratory had red 'R' sigils painted all over them. Ash looked around himself in horror, feeling an agony so extreme that he almost wished Butch and Cassidy were torturing him again.

Uncertainly, he raised his Pokédex and activated a new function that Richie had built into it a few months before. He immediately picked up two signals: TT9 and TT10. Duplicia and Joy's distress beacons. Ash shook himself and immediately released Graveler and Seeker, Tracey's Marrill. "Find Duplicia and Joy," he ordered the water mouse.

Seeker waddled forward a few paces and halted before the demolished garage building. "Mar-ar-il-aril, Ar-il," [Duplicia is underneath here, Ash,] the water-type reported.

Ash had Graveler tear the ruins apart until he saw the fawn-haired girl on whom, once, he had a bit of a crush. "Duplicia, are you all right? Answer me; for God's sake don't be dead!" he shouted, lifting her into his arms. There were several bruises marring her usually good-natured face, and a deep cut bled down from her forehead.

Duplicia opened her eyes uncertainly and looked at Ash. "Ash… it's you…?" she groaned. The girl began to cry and hugged Ash, burying her face against his chest. "Oh thank God… thank God…"

"Duplicia," Ash said as gently as he could. "What happened here? Where is Joy, Professor Oak and… and my Mom?"

"It… it was Team Rocket," Duplicia whispered in horror. "Thousands of them, all with a full half-dozen Pokémon. They… they just swept over the town, burning everything and killing anyone too slow to run… We… we tried to fight when they attacked the laboratories, but there was just too many of them. The wall fell on me and… and I heard Joy scream…" Duplicia's story dissolved into incoherent sobs.

Ash heard someone gasp, a sound full of horror and pain: Brock. Somehow, a bit of Ash managed to smile, he always knew that Brock still had a soft spot for Joy, even after all the crap they went through. He just hoped it wasn't too late for them.

Misty and the others had caught up with Ash. Gently, with a care that belied his torment, Ash passed Duplicia over to Misty. "Look after her," he said quietly. Misty passed her to Jessie, who was in tears reliving the horror of a past outrage committed by Team Rocket, feeling a pain all the more intense because of that. Together Misty and Ash ran down the hill from the laboratories to a small house in the suburbs.

Ash realised that the house in which he spent his entire childhood was the only one in the entire town that was largely intact. Although it had been broken into, its' windows broken and its contents smashed, it had not been burnt. Ash strode through the door, not knowing if the building was safe and not _caring_. "Mom!" he shouted. "Mom! Where are you? Mister Mime, are you here?"

Suddenly Raichu uttered a loud shriek that caught Ash's entire attention. Mr. Mime was lying in the centre of the shattered living room. Around him were the corpses of a Quilava, a Geodude and a Vulpix. The little psi-type had been shot through the head with a large-calibre pistol. Ash found a corner to in which he could be sick. When he managed to stand up again, he saw something on the far wall of the living room that chilled his blood.

Someone had painted four names on the wall: 'Samuel Oak,' 'Delilah Ketchum,' 'Joy Burke' and 'Maxine 'Duplicia' Simmonds.' The first three had a blood-red tick painted against them, the fourth a skull and crossbones. "Oh God no… why?" Ash blurted.

"Ash… God, I'm sorry," Misty was saying, weeping helplessly.

Ash barely heard her. All he knew was that his mother, one of his friends and the man who had been a father to him for his entire conscious existence were gone… taken by Team Rocket. Ash started to scream. He forced his way past Misty and out of the house. Misty stumbled after him, not sure what he was going to do, but terrified at the look of insane anger on her lover's face.

Outside, Ash tilted his head to the heavens and roared his fury and pain in a single despairing cry. As Misty looked on, suddenly the flame in the buildings opposite Ash's house roared higher and brighter, as if in response to Ash's torment. Suddenly, the flames flashed upwards into a huge eagle made entirely of flame. "MOLTRESSSS!" the blazing bird screamed.

The huge Legendary Bird dropped to the ground in front of Ash. _What service do you require of me, Chosen One?_ Moltres asked silently. Ash's eyes were wild and unseeing, his face was twisted with elemental fury and Misty, much to her horror, saw only death in his brown eyes.

"Take me to the forest," Ash ordered. "Find me a Team Rocket agent to _kill_!"

"Ash, wait!" Misty suddenly shouted, running forward. Without a single glance at her or Raichu, Ash urged Moltres into the air. The Legendary Bird screamed in defiance as it sensed the Chosen One's fury and leapt into the skies. Misty slowed to a halt and watched as Moltres disappeared to the south east, now a flaming arrow of vengeance against the blackened sky.

***

The rest of the team found her there, crying as she looked in the direction in which Ash had gone. "Misty?" James asked gently. She seemed to jerk physically before she looked at the former Rocket. 

"Yes James?" she asked quietly. 

"We've found Joy's Pokébelt, but there's no sign of her," he said. "From the look of that graffiti in Ash's house…"

"They took all three of them," Misty said, feeling a prescient dread. "Ash's mother, Professor Oak and Joy. They wanted them as hostages."

James nodded in agreement. 

"How better to control someone," Jessie asked through her tears, "than to have their loved ones at your mercy?" She shuddered. "Where's Ash?"

"He's gone…" Misty said and had to swallow her fear at what she saw in Ash's eyes. "I… I think he's gone to get… revenge…"

James swallowed too. He knew that feeling, and he knew that if Ash succumbed, everything would be lost. "Go find him," he ordered. Misty looked at him in confusion. "Go, he'll need you to help him regain control."

"Shouldn't we… shouldn't we be looking for clues or something?" Misty asked uncertainly.

Jessie showed Misty a video DVD. It has a red 'R' on its' top and someone had written 'For Ash S. Ketchum,' on the cover. "I found this in Ash's bedroom," she explained. "I think that this will tell us all we need to know, but it will be useless if Ash goes mad. Go to him, Misty, before it is too late. _Go!_"

Misty looked around in confusion. Lance and Sabrina were helping the still-weak Duplicia while Richie was trying to comfort Brock, who was sitting on the kerb, crying like a child. "But… the others…" Misty said helplessly, gesturing around her.

"GO!" James shouted.

Half-blinded with tears, Misty released her Dragonite. She waited for Raichu to climb up behind her and then urged her Dragonite into the air.

***

It didn't take Misty long to find Ash. Moltres was almost 150 feet from wingtip to wingtip. Even on the ground, the Legendary Bird's flames lit up his surroundings for miles. As Dragonite circled towards the clearing where the God of Fire stood, Misty saw one of Team Rocket's armoured ground transports lying on its' side. The vehicle was painted like an Arcanine, like all of its' type, but the rear of this vehicle was a puddle of slag, melted by the intense heat of Moltres' Fire Blast attack.

As Misty's mount circled closer, the girl from Cerulean City saw her lover. He was holding a white-uniformed Team Rocket agent by the lapels of his tunic and was smashing his fist into his face again and again and again. On the verge of panic, Misty commanded Dragonite to land. She leapt from the dragon's back and ran towards Ash.

"Stop it, Ash," she screamed, "you'll kill him!"

Ash swung around to face Misty, his face pale and blank, his eyes staring, filled with hate and anger. "Get out of here Misty," he snarled. "Get out or watch me kill this piece of shit the way his kind have killed my friends and neighbours!"

"NO!" Misty shouted, grabbing Ash by the arm. "Don't do it, Ash. Please, you'll be no better than _them_!"

Ash didn't even look at Misty. He was much stronger than she was, and he shrugged her hands off without any real effort. Misty hit the ground with a grunt of discomfort and surprise, tears starting in her eyes. In all the years they had known each other the one thing he had _never_ done was hit her.

As Misty looked on in horror, Ash cocked his fist and punched the Rocket again. The man's face was already a mask of blood; Misty couldn't even tell what his skin colour was. Ash dropped him to the ground and drew his survival knife from his belt. With almost supernatural calm, he tilted the man's head back and poised the serrated blade against the man's carotid artery. "Last chance, scum," Ash said, his voice strangely friendly and helpful. "Where have your friends taken my mother?"

The man wasn't conscious and, given the amount of damage Ash had done to his face, it was unlikely he could have made an intelligible reply if he _was_ conscious. Ash shrugged easily. "Your choice," he remarked. He raised the knife and prepared to slash the Rocket' throat open like he was a thanksgiving turkey. 

"Ash, NO!" Misty screamed at the top of her voice. Ash's head snapped around to face her again. "Please don't do this, Ash," she begged, tears streaming down her face. "Please, you'll destroy everything good you've ever done if you let yourself do this!"

"They… they took away my Mom," Ash said, his voice calm and distant. "I've got to find her, Misty. I don't care what it takes to do that…"

"Ash, don't you understand that this is what they _want_?" she pleaded. "To turn you into a killer… to destroy your honour and your soul?" Ash looked at her in confusion and a sudden inspiration suddenly struck Misty. She would have been pleased if it were not the truth. "You do this and you'll be just like him… you'll become your father."

Ash sucked in a breath in what sounded suspiciously like a sob. He looked at his knife as if he had never seen it before. With a scream that sounded like a sob, he threw it away from him. He dropped the unconscious Rocket and backed away from him. "I… I don't know what to do, Misty," he said at last. "I can't think straight… I can't do anything."

Misty suddenly felt strangely angry with him. "Damn it, Ash, stop being so _selfish_!" she shouted. "You aren't the only person suffering here! Team Rocket has wiped out whole _families_! Brock is going _mad_ thinking about what might happen to Joy!" Misty drew in a deep breath and tried to calm down. "We'll make them pay, Ash," she promised, "but we can't just go on a rampage. Look, Jessie has found a DVD that might have a ransom demand on it. We'll watch it and decide on our next move."

Ash closed his eyes and tried to regain control of himself. He was only partially successful. However, he knew that Misty was right and he was wrong… as usual. "I don't know if I can survive this, Misty," he said.

"That's what friends are for," Misty said gently, her voice quiet and afraid. Ash suddenly lunged forward and hugged her with bone-crushing strength. Misty hugged him back, and where their cheeks were pressed together, their tears of pain and grief mingled.

As Misty held Ash in her arms, she remembered the terrifying _blankness_ of his expression when he was about to murder that Rocket. _Is this how it began with Giovanni?_ she asked herself. _How far can you push a good man? How much pain, degradation and horror must he have to endure before he cannot take anymore, and the slash of a knife or the roar of a gunshot offers a solution that would make the world so… clean?_ Misty suddenly shook her head. Ash wasn't his father and he would _never_ be his father. He was a good man, dedicated to justice, honour and love; he would never decay into a _monster_, obsessed with killing and power. Then, with a sudden chilling certainty, she realised that this is what people might have said about Joseph Oak twenty years ago… before he became Giovanni diRocketti.

Misty swallowed her fear. Ash would not become another Giovanni; she would ensure that much… she hoped. Sabrina's vision saw them together, about to launch a final conquest of the world. _No_… _no, it won't be that way_, she swore to herself. "Come on," she said aloud, gently detaching Ash's arms and turning him back towards his patiently waiting Pokémon. "I'll take you home."

Misty led Ash away from the broken Rockets and their destroyed vehicle. After a few moments, Moltres and Dragonite rose away from the clearing and slowly flew off back towards Pallet Town.

__

To be continued… 

****

Endnote

Don't go away people. Next episode, the identity of the Betrayer is revealed!


	6. The Face of the Betrayer

**__**

PoKéMoN

Avenger – by Ben Russell-Gough

****

Legal Disclaimer

Pokémon, the Pocket Monsters and their human friends and enemies are all the sole copyright and trademark property of Nintendo Entertainment, Game Freak Software and 4 Kids Productions. No breach of any copyright or legal property is intended.

****

Author's Notes

This is my first Pokémon fic. I _still _don't know all the monsters or the moves, so please forgive me if I get something glaringly wrong. I can only base my work on the little I've seen of the cartoon. 

I want to take this opportunity to thank all the other Fanfiction.NET authors for providing plenty of information, feedback and honest advice. It has made my work much better and more satisfying to read, I think. Special thanks must go to Charles 'Rocketboy' Reilly, Wind, Chuchino, Joshua Falken and Catalina Storm for their invaluable detailed feedback.

Text in [squared-off brackets] is translated Pokémon talk

Text in _Italics_ but not in quotes indicates thought or telepathic communication

Text in **bold** is a mobile 'phone text message

This is an **Alternate Universe** fic.

Ages: Ash is 17; Misty has just turned 19; Brock is 25; Jessie and James are both 24; Richie is 17; Duplicia is 18; Sabrina is 20; Lance is 16; Joy is 29.

****

Censor: R (Equivalent to UK '15' Certificate)

Content Warning: Swearing, implied sexual activity & extreme violence

****

Book 2 – Team Rocket Strikes Back

__

What has gone before…

It is a time of struggle, with the heroic young Trainers of Team Thunderbolt engaged in a bitter blood feud with the dark forces of Team Rocket. At stake is not only the fate of these heroes, but also the fate of the whole world.

His friends have just freed Ash Ketchum, the leader of Team Thunderbolt, from captivity. Now on the way home to Pallet Town to recuperate from the injuries inflicted on him by Team Rocket's sadistic torturers, Ash finds that the reach of his evil father, Giovanni diRocketti was long and his vengeance a thing most terrible to behold…

***

Together Misty and Ash ran down the hill from the laboratories to a small house in the suburbs.

Ash realised that the house in which he spent his entire childhood was the only one in the entire town that was largely intact. Although it had been broken into, its' windows broken and its contents smashed, it had not been burnt. Ash strode through the door, not knowing if the building was safe and not _caring_. "Mom!" he shouted. "Mom! Where are you? Mister Mime, are you here?"

Suddenly Raichu uttered a loud shriek that caught Ash's entire attention. Mr. Mime was lying in the centre of the shattered living room. Around him were the corpses of a Quilava, a Geodude and a Vulpix. The little psi-type had been shot through the head with a large-calibre pistol. Ash found a corner to in which he could be sick. When he managed to stand up again, he saw something on the far wall of the living room that chilled his blood.

Someone had painted four names on the wall: 'Samuel Oak,' 'Delilah Ketchum,' 'Joy Burke' and 'Maxine 'Duplicia' Simmonds.' The first three had a blood-red tick painted against them, the fourth a skull and crossbones. "Oh God no… why?" Ash blurted.

"Ash… God, I'm sorry," Misty was saying, weeping helplessly.

Ash barely heard her. All he knew was that his mother, one of his friends and the man who had been a father to him for his entire conscious existence were gone… taken by Team Rocket. Ash started to scream. He forced his way past Misty and out of the house. Misty stumbled after him, not sure what he was going to do, but terrified at the look of insane anger on her lover's face.

Outside, Ash tilted his head to the heavens and roared his fury and pain in a single despairing cry. As Misty looked on, suddenly the flame in the buildings opposite Ash's house roared higher and brighter, as if in response to Ash's torment. Suddenly, the flames flashed upwards into a huge eagle made entirely of flame. "MOLTRESSSS!" the blazing bird screamed.

The huge Legendary Bird dropped to the ground in front of Ash. _What service do you require of me, Chosen One?_ Moltres asked silently. Ash's eyes were wild and unseeing, his face was twisted with elemental fury and Misty, much to her horror, saw only death in his brown eyes.

"Take me to the forest," Ash ordered. "Find me a Team Rocket agent to _kill_!"

"Ash, wait!" Misty suddenly shouted, running forward. Without a single glance at her or Raichu, Ash urged Moltres into the air. The Legendary Bird screamed in defiance as it sensed the Chosen One's fury and leapt into the skies. Misty slowed to a halt and watched as Moltres disappeared to the south east, now a flaming arrow of vengeance against the blackened sky.

***

It didn't take Misty long to find Ash. Moltres was almost 150 feet from wingtip to wingtip. Even on the ground, the Legendary Bird's flames lit up his surroundings for miles. As Dragonite circled towards the clearing where the God of Fire stood, Misty saw one of Team Rocket's armoured ground transports lying on its' side. The vehicle was painted like an Arcanine, like all of its' type, but the rear of this vehicle was a puddle of slag, melted by the intense heat of Moltres' Fire Blast attack.

As Misty's mount circled closer, the girl from Cerulean City saw her lover. He was holding a white-uniformed Team Rocket agent by the lapels of his tunic and was smashing his fist into his face again and again and again. On the verge of panic, Misty commanded Dragonite to land. She leapt from the dragon's back and ran towards Ash.

"Stop it, Ash," she screamed, "you'll kill him!"

Ash swung around to face Misty, his face pale and blank, his eyes staring, filled with hate and anger. "Get out of here Misty," he snarled. "Get out or watch me kill this piece of shit the way his kind have killed my friends and neighbours!"

"NO!" Misty shouted, grabbing Ash by the arm. "Don't do it, Ash. Please, you'll be no better than _them_!"

Ash didn't even look at Misty. He was much stronger than she was, and he shrugged her hands off without any real effort. Misty hit the ground with a grunt of discomfort and surprise, tears starting in her eyes. In all the years they had known each other the one thing he had _never_ done was hit her.

As Misty looked on in horror, Ash cocked his fist and punched the Rocket again. The man's face was already a mask of blood; Misty couldn't even tell what his skin colour was. Ash dropped him to the ground and drew his survival knife from his belt. With almost supernatural calm, he tilted the man's head back and poised the serrated blade against the man's carotid artery. "Last chance, scum," Ash said, his voice strangely friendly and helpful. "Where have your friends taken my mother?"

The man wasn't conscious and, given the amount of damage Ash had done to his face, it was unlikely he could have made an intelligible reply if he _was_ conscious. Ash shrugged easily. "Your choice," he remarked. He raised the knife and prepared to slash the Rocket' throat open like he was a thanksgiving turkey. 

"Ash, NO!" Misty screamed at the top of her voice. Ash's head snapped around to face her again. "Please don't do this, Ash," she begged, tears streaming down her face. "Please, you'll destroy everything good you've ever done if you let yourself do this!"

"They… they took away my Mom," Ash said, his voice calm and distant. "I've got to find her, Misty. I don't care what it takes to do that…"

"Ash, don't you understand that this is what they _want_?" she pleaded. "To turn you into a killer… to destroy your honour and your soul?" Ash looked at her in confusion and a sudden inspiration suddenly struck Misty. She would have been pleased if it were not the truth. "You do this and you'll be just like him… you'll become your father."

Ash sucked in a breath in what sounded suspiciously like a sob. He looked at his knife as if he had never seen it before. With a scream that sounded like a sob, he threw it away from him. He dropped the unconscious Rocket and backed away from him. "I… I don't know what to do, Misty," he said at last. "I can't think straight… I can't do anything."

Misty suddenly felt strangely angry with him. "Damn it, Ash, stop being so _selfish_!" she shouted. "You aren't the only person suffering here! Team Rocket has wiped out whole _families_! Brock is going _mad_ thinking about what might happen to Joy!" Misty drew in a deep breath and tried to calm down. "We'll make them pay, Ash," she promised, "but we can't just go on a rampage. Look, Jessie has found a DVD that might have a ransom demand on it. We'll watch it and decide on our next move."

Ash closed his eyes and tried to regain control of himself. He was only partially successful. However, he knew that Misty was right and he was wrong… as usual. "I don't know if I can survive this, Misty," he said.

"That's what friends are for," Misty said gently, her voice quiet and afraid. Ash suddenly lunged forward and hugged her with bone-crushing strength. Misty hugged him back, and where their cheeks were pressed together, their tears of pain and grief mingled.

As Misty held Ash in her arms, she remembered the terrifying _blankness_ of his expression when he was about to murder that Rocket. _Is this how it began with Giovanni?_ she asked herself. _How far can you push a good man? How much pain, degradation and horror must he have to endure before he cannot take anymore, and the slash of a knife or the roar of a gunshot offers a solution that would make the world so… clean?_ Misty suddenly shook her head. Ash wasn't his father and he would _never_ be his father. He was a good man, dedicated to justice, honour and love; he would never decay into a _monster_, obsessed with killing and power. Then, with a sudden chilling certainty, she realised that this is what people might have said about Joseph Oak twenty years ago… before he became Giovanni diRocketti.

Misty swallowed her fear. Ash would not become another Giovanni; she would ensure that much… she hoped. Sabrina's vision saw them together, about to launch a final conquest of the world. _No_… _no, it won't be that way_, she swore to herself. "Come on," she said aloud, gently detaching Ash's arms and turning him back towards his patiently waiting Pokémon. "I'll take you home."

Misty led Ash away from the broken Rockets and their destroyed vehicle. After a few moments, Moltres and Dragonite rose away from the clearing and slowly flew off back towards Pallet Town.

__

And now the continuation…

****

Chapter 6 – The Face of the Betrayer

Misty was hovering again, Richie decided sourly. 

Of course, he could well understand her concern and her impatience. Things were, after all, pretty bad all told. Around them, Pallet Town lay in ruins. One of Team Thunderbolt was at the mercy of their sworn enemies in Team Rocket. The Thunderbolts' leader, Ash Ketchum, seemed to be hovering on the edge of insanity. Of course, after seeing his hometown destroyed and learning that Team Rocket had captured and taken his mother and the man who was effectively a father to him to who knows where, who could blame him?

The other members of Team Thunderbolt were all sitting around the small living room of Ash's violated family home. Jessie and James were sitting close together along with their friend Meowth, talking quietly. James had gone through a rough patch earlier. Both he and Jessie didn't seem so much angry as they were tired. Lance was comforting Sabrina, who, now she was actually in the town, was suffering from feeling the psychic agony of the town's collective aura being so badly savaged. Duplicia and Misty were trying to comfort Brock, who had been in tears as he considered the likely fate of his one-time lover, Joy Burke, now captured by Team Rocket. Everyone except Brock and Joy themselves knew that the two of them were still in love, and this catastrophe had finally revealed that truth to Brock. Richie just hoped that it wasn't too late for the pair of them.

Things were not hopeless yet, but a lot depended on Richie getting the damaged DVD player and TV set working again. With some relief, Richie watched the yellow lights on his voltage-testing wand, indicating that the home entertainment system was powering up. "Guys, I think I've got it," Richie called.

Ash looked up and, for a split second, he caught Richie's eye. Richie had to look away immediately. Whatever it was he could see in Ash's eyes, it wasn't pretty; indeed it was the stuff of nightmares.

As Brock, Jessie, James, Meowth, Sabrina, Lance and Duplicia crowded around the TV set, Ash remained slumped at the bottom of the stairs. He had been sitting there since Misty had brought him back from the forest where he fled after learning of the day's disasters. 

Misty hadn't told any of the others that Ash had been on the verge of murdering some hapless Team Rocket agent when she found him. She hoped that a little time to think would have helped her lover regain his calm. It wasn't looking like her hopes had been realised.

"Ash," she said gently. "We're ready to play that DVD the Rockets left behind."

Ash physically started and looked up at Misty, his eyes filled with anger, pain and despair. Instinctively, Misty took a step back and Ash reached out to grab her hand before she could move away from him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay," he said after looking up at her with a cold, lifeless smile, "let's see what they have to say."

Misty noted how the other Thunderbolts moved aside as Ash walked into the room. Misty swallowed dryly. Ash had never been one to inspire fear in his friends before today. Suddenly, however, everyone was reacting to him as if he was an unexploded bomb or something. Misty prayed devoutly to whoever might be listening that Ash wouldn't fall as his accursed father, Giovanni diRocketti, had fallen.

As Ash passed Sabrina, he felt the psychic woman's mind reaching out to him, trying to comfort him. What she sensed, the coldness and agony thrashing around in his mind, terrified her. She unconsciously moved closer to her boyfriend, Lance, trying to absorb a little warmth from his good-natured soul.

Ash stood right in front of Richie. "Well?" he asked.

"I've got it working as well as it is going to get Ash," Richie replied. "We're ready to play the disc." Ash nodded once and sat stiffly on the edge of a battered and scarred coffee table. Richie inserted the DVD into the jerry-rigged player and pressed the 'play' button.

The TV screen showed static for a second before a backlit figure appeared, sitting at a desk. The man was wearing a stone-coloured Team Rocket uniform. Although you couldn't see his face, the fact that he was stroking a smug-looking Persian told Jessie, James and Meowth who this was immediately. Ash knew him straight away from the voice and image shown him during his time as Team Rocket's unwilling guest not to long ago. "Giovanni," Ash said, his voice emotionless.

"_Greetings, Team Thunderbolt,_" Giovanni said in a taunting tone of voice. "_And especially greetings to you, my son. By now, of course, you would have seen my agents… handiwork. I hope that this has demonstrated to you all the utter futility of your attempts to defeat me?_"

"It demonstrates that your thugs perform better when they are fighting unarmed civilians," Richie said with a snort.

"_I arranged this little show for one reason_," Giovanni continued. "_And that was to demonstrate that I could crush your pitiful little band at any time that I choose._" The image of Giovanni closed his free hand into a fist and waved it at the camera."_However, I have been impressed by your strength and skill. And, wherever possible, I prefer to work _with_ strength, rather than against it._" Giovanni settled back and began to stroke Persian again. "_You are the first group to seriously threaten Team Rocket's dominance over human society in almost two decades, and I think that this proves something. It proves that you are not sheep like most of the pitiful populace of our world, but masters and leaders. That means that your place is at _my_ side._"

There was consternation around the living room of the Ketchum home. "Is that psychotic inviting us to join Team Rocket?" Duplicia blurted in disbelief.

"He's crazy if he thinks we will _ever_ join the people who could do this to a town of innocent people," Richie snapped angrily.

"He's holding the cards for now, though," Brock said unhappily, fidgeting as he considered what Joy (and Delilah and Professor Oak, of course) might be going through.

Giovanni had paused, no doubt anticipating the furore that his statement would have provoked. Ash could sense the man's smug smile and had to restrain a desire to kick in the TV set's tube. "Quiet," he said. "There's more."

"_You will have learnt by now that your comrades, Joy Burke and Maxine Simmonds are both in the protective custody of Team Rocket, along with my traitorous ex-wife and brother. They will remain in our protective custody for the next fourteen days. If you have not delivered yourselves to my headquarters facility on Black Island in that time…_" Giovanni chuckled darkly. "_Well, you are a group of intelligent young people, I'm sure that you can imagine what will happen if you do not appear._"

Ash's expression was cold, as if he were carved out of stone. Misty reached up to touch his knee. Ash grabbed her hand and squeezed it hard. "I'm here, Ash," she whispered.

"I know," Ash whispered back before continuing in a normal tone. "Obviously this was recorded before the attack, or he wouldn't have mentioned Duplicia being in his 'protective custody.'" Ash shook his head. "That bastard is smug and overconfident. We can use that to our advantage."

The other Thunderbolts looked at Ash with a little surprise at hearing him say they had an advantage; however their expressions were showing a little more defiance than before. Misty held down a proud smile; it was incredible how easily Ash was managing to motivate his friends. 

"_I assure you that I have no interest in revenge,_" Giovanni was continuing. "_Those incompetents you so easily overthrew have already proven that they are unworthy of the Cause. I would go so far as to suggest that you have done me a great service by exposing their weakness and disposing of them so neatly._"

"Now _that_ is insulting," Misty snorted, making Ash laugh, if a little hollowly.

"_So all of you can be assured of places of power in the service of Team Rocket_," Giovanni said, his voice pleasant. "_Especially you, my son. You can be assured that as my heir, you will have all the power and the privilege that you could need. And don't concern yourself about my 'guests.' As much as it pains me, I assure you that your two friends and my… kin…_" and Giovanni had to bite out that last word as if it tasted bad, "_will go unharmed if you co-operate._"

There was a long pause, as Giovanni looked at the camera, still stroking Persian. "_There is one last point I should make,_" he said at last. "_Jessie and James, I will not insult your intelligence by suggesting that the amnesty I am willing to extend to your colleagues applies to you. You were once Team Rocket my naïve young friends and you know the price of betrayal. I cannot make an exception for anyone, or I might give my agents the idea that they can betray me at will. If you are sensible and surrender yourself with the others, I can at least promise that your punishment will be swift and utterly painless._"

Jessie swallowed and moved closer to James, whose face darkened with murderous anger. Meowth snarled. "Don't do us no favours, mistah," his hissed. "We ain't gonna surrendah to _you_!"

"_I am sure you intend to help them escape my son,_" Giovanni continued jocularly. "_Don't bother. If they do not present themselves along with the rest of your band, I will see to it that your mother and my brother suffer all the torments that Butch and Cassidy made you endure… and worse._" Ash tensed, remembering the torture; and maybe only Misty saw the pain and torment in his eyes. "_You know it's odd, Jessie,_" Giovanni continued in a thoughtful tone of voice. "_How mother and daughter are going to have the same fate. I had to kill Miyamoto for her treason, and now I am going to do the same to you_." He sighed and laughed darkly. "_I always seem to have trouble with my children. You are a traitor and I have had to go to all this trouble to convince my son to behave!_"

"No…" Jessie whispered, half standing. "No… you aren't my father… YOU AREN'T!"

"Jessie," James stood and tried to grab her, "he's lying to try to upset us…" Jessie shrugged James' arm off her shoulder. She was frozen as she watched Giovanni's shadowy face and listened to his gloating voice, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"_Your mother's end was painless, daughter,_" Giovanni chuckled. "_If you surrender, I will see to it that it is the same for you. If not… well I always wondered if you would taste the same as your mother._"

"That… _animal_!" Sabrina hissed.

"No… it isn't…" Jessie was sobbing now, trembling as if she were having a fit. She suddenly turned and fled from the house with a scream of "NO!"

"Jessie!" James and Meowth chased off after the redheaded woman.

"_Remember, Ash, you have fourteen days. I want all eight of you on Black Island by then. You know what the price your loved ones will pay if you decide to…_" Ash snarled and finally succumbed to a base instinct by kicking out the TV set's tube. 

"You _shit_," Ash snapped. "I'll do the same to your face soon enough!" He was about to rush out of the door and find someone to fight when Misty grabbed his arm. Ash touched her hand and closed his eyes, breathing hard and trying to conquer his hatred. _Stay calm man_, he told himself. _Don't lose control of your anger. The others need you_. It was very hard, though. Since the moment Ash had seen his violated home, he had wanted nothing more than to go and kill every Team Rocket agent he could find. Giovanni's gloating words was making it harder and harder to resist this temptation.

There was a long silence as the Thunderbolts considered "What… what do we do?" Brock asked, hunched in on himself.

"We are not going to surrender," Misty declared. "That is out of the question, isn't it, Ash?" Misty looked at Ash, who was pacing restlessly, a fierce expression on his face. "Isn't it?" she asked again.

"Of course," Ash said with a wave of a hand. "Don't worry, Mist. There's no chance I would even consider us handing ourselves over to that demon. I wouldn't trust him to honour a cheque, let alone his promises that he won't try to take revenge on us." Ash looked at the open door for a moment. "And there is no chance that I will hand over my… my kin… to his concept of 'justice.'" Ash shook his head and suddenly sat down heavily. The weight on his shoulders was getting a little too heavy, and the pain and anguish he felt was making thinking hard.

"What are we going to do then?" Lance said. "He said he'll kill Joy, Mrs. Ketchum and Professor Oak if we don't surrender by then."

"There is only one thing we can do," Ash said, scowling at nothing. "We are going to free the hostages. Then we will make him _pay_ for everything he has done!"

***

"Jessie… Meowth! Are youse okay?" Jessie was standing on the high bluffs over a small sandy cove south east of Pallet Town. Once, a long time ago, they had fought a battle with Ash and Misty here, a battle that temporarily blinded Ash and left Jessie almost dead from drowning. It was strange that they should have come from the worst of enemies to the closest of friends. Now this had happened, and Giovanni had made his revelation.

"Jessie…?"

"Go away, Meowth," Jessie said, trying to make her tone as forbidding as possible. "You too, James."

"No," James replied, making Jessie smile slightly. Once her 'angry voice' would have terrified James, but he had come so far recently; and so much of that he owed to Ash. "I won't leave you alone while you are suffering," her lover continued.

Jessie tried to draw in a deep breath, but it shuddered and threatened to turn into a sob. "It's… horrible," she said at last. "All my life, I've looked up to Mama… tried to live a life that would be worthy of her courage in dying while trying to catch Mew." James nodded encouragingly. "Now I learn that it was all a lie. That the Boss killed her for some kind of betrayal! That her death meant _nothing_!" Jessie began to cry. She covered her face and had to resist the temptation to throw herself off the sixty-foot cliffs in the hope of finding peace. "And if that meant nothing, then it means everything I've done in my life is based on a lie, that everything I've ever done is _nothing!_ That _I_ am NOTHING!"

"Jessie!" James shouted, interrupting her flow of pain. "Listen to me, Jessie," he said firmly, "you are not 'nothing.'" James stepped forward. He swung Jessie around and grabbed her shoulders. "Damn your mother, _you _are strong, loving, courageous and a fine trainer. This is what _you _have achieved on your own without _anyone_." James pulled her closer and looked into her eyes. "Jessie, it isn't your mother I fell in love with but you," he said gently. "_You_ helped me to recover from what happened to my family. _You _are the one who taught me to love again after Jessibelle."

Jessie looked up into James' green eyes, confusion and torment written in every line of her face. "But my mother was killed by that… monster…" she said at last. "She died as a condemned traitor!"

"A traitor to Team Rocket," James reminded her, "just like you and me." James smiled wickedly. "It looks like we are in fine company." James sucked in a breath and tried a risky tack. "I also think that she would be very proud that her little girl is following her example by fighting against Team Rocket as hard as she did."

Jessie looked shocked at first, but as she considered it, she realised that James was right. She leaned forward and embraced him. "Thank you for being here, James," she said quietly.

"I am always here for you, my rose," he replied. "Actually, I thought that learning that Ash was your half-brother was what made your run like that!"

Jessie giggled. "God, yes, you're right," she said with a gasp. "If Giovanni is my… father… God what a horrible thought… that means that Ash and I are family! I'm related to the _Twerp!_" She shook her head. "How will I ever live it down?"

"Well, youse inherited a lot o'yah mudder's qualities, Jess," Meowth suggested with a grin. "Dat makes all da difference!"

"Oh, I don't know," Jessie said primly. "According to Professor Oak, my father is a superb Pokémon Trainer. That would explain my skill and natural brilliance."

There was a horrified pause from James and Meowth before all three started laughing.

Wise Meowth noted a look of fear in Jessie's eyes, though. What if she _had_ inherited something from Giovanni? For instance, he had a weakness of the soul that made him turn evil. Jessie herself was notorious for her temper and her cruelty when provoked. Meowth nudged her hand. "Youse'll never turn into a monster like _him_," he assured her.

Jessie nodded gratefully. "I'm afraid for Ash," she said after a moment. "This is the sort of thing that could break him and send him down his… _our_ father's path." Jessie released James. "I should go to help him."

"Misty can handle that," James said with a tone of certainty. "You know, you're handling the fact you and him might be kin very well."

Jessie shrugged and shook her head. "I can't explain it," she said at last. "From the moment I saw him for the first time in Viridian City's Pokémon Centre, I knew… somehow I've _always _known."

James gave Jessie a puzzled look as she walked off back towards the smouldering ruins of Pallet Town.

***

Misty found Ash sitting on the 'Terrace,' a small relaxation spot that he and Brock had built on top of the house's garage five long years ago. Like the rest of the house, Team Rocket had vandalised it violently and carelessly. The potted plants had all been thrown to the ground and the hanging sun lounger had been knocked from one of its' supports, making it lean over drunkenly at a steep angle.

Ash had somehow contrived to sit on the damaged lounger and was watching the sun set over the ruins of his hometown. He could just see the Red Cross tent city that had sprung up in the ruined town square. Already the UN Governing Committee had announced ambitious plans to rebuild the devastated town into a beautiful model town with the best facilities and infrastructure of any town on Earth. However, Ash knew that it would never be the same for anyone ever again.

Raichu sat next to him, trying to comfort his Trainer. It was a good effort, but Ash felt far from comfort tonight. He tickled his oldest and most loyal friend with a gentle smile.

Ash felt tears winding down his cheeks as he watched the sun set through the drifting smoke. He used to love watching the sunset from the Terrace; it helped him relax and think. Now it only reminded him of his responsibilities, his failures, and the terrible price that innocents would pay if he failed again.

"Ash," Misty called gently.

"Hello, Misty," he said. He waved at the battered lounger. "I'd ask you to join me but…"

Misty walked over and sat on his lap, surprising him. "And I accept," she said with an impish smile. She gave her lover a quick kiss before continuing in a more serious tone. "Don't do it Ash," she said. Ash gave her a confused look. "Don't die inside," she continued. "I… I still love you and I still need you. If you let this turn you into another Giovanni, not only will you be giving your father the victory, but you will destroy me too."

"I don't ever want to hurt you," Ash said. "But Misty, I can feel all the blackness and hate squirming around inside me. I'm afraid of what might happen if I lose control even for a second." Ash sighed and buried his face against Misty's neck, hiding his face in her long ginger hair. "It all hurts so much," he continued.

"Everyone has been hurt by this," Misty said firmly. She turned around and took Ash's head in her hands. "You mustn't let it drag you down. Do something _positive_. The people of the town are going to rebuild, and turn this disaster into a rebirth. You should learn from that."

"No matter how much you build over them, the scars will always remain," Ash said darkly, frowning out at nothing.

"Of course," Misty agreed, "but they will be buried under what is good."

"'Good?' I'm not sure that you can get anything good out of something like this, Misty," Ash said.

"Damn you," Misty hissed. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself and do something!" Ash reared back in surprise. Misty stood up and poked him hard in the chest. "You're the _Chosen One_, Ash Ketchum! You have powers and skills beyond anything anyone else has. Stop moping around and use them! We're on a deadline, you know!"

Ash suddenly exploded and pushed Misty away. She fell to the floor with a grunt of surprise and pain. "I know you stupid bitch!" he shouted, jumping to his feet. "I can feel the seconds ticking away!"

"Then start _acting_ instead of sitting around, feeling sorry for yourself!" Misty shouted back, too angry to be frightened.

Ash strode over and stood over Misty. He grabbed her by the shoulders and began to shake her. "And what am I supposed to do?" he shouted. "Mom, the Professor are gone who knows where! How can I help them if I don't even know where they are?"

"Then find them," Misty screamed into his face. "You've got all these contacts from all those years on the road, so use them!"

There was a long pause. Suddenly Ash saw how he was holding Misty, how the flesh of her shoulders had gone white. Doubtless, she would have a fine crop of bruises in the morning. He suddenly groaned in shame and hugged her. "Misty, God I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to hurt you… don't leave me, I couldn't survive without you."

Misty hugged him back. "There is nothing to forgive, my love," she said. "You are angry and afraid and your hurt is spilling out. But Ash, you don't have to face this alone. You have allies, you know. Let us help you."

[Yes, let us help,] Raichu said, running forward and placing a paw on his friend's leg. [You only have to ask and all your Pokémon would die for you. Use our love and our strength when your strength falters.]

Ash sagged and sat down on the concrete floor. Misty did not release him and held him close, virtually laying her head in his lap. "I asked Sabrina," Ash said at last. "She was able to confirm that they are alive. She even managed to touch my Mom's mind and reassure her, but they don't know where they are either." 

A depressed silence followed that statement. After a moment, Misty spoke. "There must be someone who knows something," she said quietly.

"The Team Rocket agents who took them there, of course," Ash said. He laughed bitterly. "But who knows who or where they are? Unless you want me to hunt down every agent in the Kanto region one-by-one and make every one of them talk…"

Misty shivered at the thought of Ash going on a rampage. She knew he was capable of such a feat, but the cost would be his soul. "Don't talk like that," she said. "That isn't an option."

"It is something I'll keep as a last resort," Ash said, the dark tone of his voice making her shiver.

"Please don't fall, Ash," she said, shooting Raichu a worried look. "I don't want to go through what your mother went through."

Ash wasn't listening. "Sabrina's vision spoke of a betrayal," he said at last. "There is one person who links all this together, Misty. There is one person who betrayed me to Team Rocket, and I bet he was behind this horror too."

"How?" Misty asked.

"The Defence Grid, remember?" Ash said. His voice was getting louder as he realised how _right_ his suppositions seemed. "Team Rocket couldn't have gained this level of surprise if someone hadn't turned it off just before their attack was due to start."

"You mean, someone betrayed you and then betrayed the entire town?" Misty was horrified. "_Who _would do that?"

"It would have to be someone Professor Oak trusted," Ash said. "Someone that he would let into the most secure part of his laboratories without question. Someone who had the opportunity in both cases: To put me in the right place and time to Team Rocket to capture me, and be here in Pallet to turn off the Defence Grid before the attack. Someone we both trusted, who was on the spot at both cases… and someone who isn't among the dead or the refugees tonight."

"Ash…" Misty said in horror, "are you suggesting maybe Duplicia or Joy…?"

"No, no," Ash said, squeezing Misty's hands. "No, neither of them could have arranged my capture. Duplicia was too badly hurt in the attack for it to be a ruse. It is just possible to imagine Joy being involved, but she doesn't know enough about the Laboratories to find where Professor Oak had the controls for the Defence Grid. Besides, they both hate Team Rocket with all their soul. There is nothing you could do to either of them to make them co-operate with them." Ash was thoughtful. "It would have to be someone with something to gain. Someone who didn't care what it took to get at me…" Suddenly Ash tensed. "No," he said. "I can't believe it. I _won't_ believe it."

"Who?" Misty said.

"I don't want to say it," Ash said.

"Ash," Misty said, trying to sound reasonable. "I can help…"

"No, I won't say it," Ash said stubbornly. "I won't utter these suspicions to anyone. I've got to have some proof. Please leave me."

"Ash," Misty said uncertainly, sitting up.

"_Go!_" Ash hissed. Then he modulated his voice. "_Please _Misty… This is something I have to do alone."

[Please listen to him, Misty,] Raichu said after looking his Trainer in the eyes. [You know he would never ask something like this unless it was necessary.]

Misty was worried; no, she was _terrified _about what Ash was about to do. However, she trusted him and loved him. She owed him this much.

After Misty left the Terrace, Ash got out his mobile 'phone and turned it on. "Please God, let me be wrong," he said. "Let this be a slanderous mistake." He dialled a number for Viridian City and waited.

"_Viridian City Earth Gym, this is Reception. Can I help you?_" asked a pleasant voice.

"Can you put me through to the Gym Leader, please," Ash said.

"_I'm sorry, sir,_" the receptionist said. "_The Gym Leader isn't accepting any calls right now. After what happened to his hometown…_"

"Listen," Ash interrupted. "Tell Gary that it is Ash Ketchum. Tell him that it is about what happened to Pallet Town. Tell him I think I can help his grandpa, but I'll need his help."

"_Sir, the Gym Leader was very clear…_" the receptionist said uncertainly.

"Put me through," Ash said. He grinned a little to himself. "Tell him: 'You'd better talk to me, Oak, or I'll see that the Press find out about what you and your Cheerleaders were doing that afternoon in Goldenrod City.'"

Ash had to grin a little at Raichu's mischievous giggle as he recalled that day too.

***

Next day, Gary and Ash were sitting in a bar called the 'Drunken Ditto,' near the Gym in Viridian City. Gary looked as nervous as hell, Ash thought. He imagined that looked nervous too. The clock stood at thirteen days and counting… He stroked Raichu, who was sitting on the table, needing his friends' strength and reassurance more than ever.

Gary looked down and had to take a long pull of his whiskey to steady his nerves. Gary had been greatly disturbed by the questions Ash asked during their telephone conversation last night. He didn't know what was going on, but he felt a strange prescient dread as he looked into his cousin's brown eyes. After five minutes, he felt able to talk. "So… uh… what's this about me and the Cheerleaders?" Gary said nervously.

Ash laughed. "Only that Misty and me walked into your room and found the five of you in bed together," Ash said with a dirty laugh. Gary went bright red. "Don't worry, Gary," Ash said with an evil grin. "I know that it was only a fancy. You'll _never_ two-time your Arcanine. She means too much to you."

"Ash, that is disgusting," Gary said with a slight laugh. "As if!"

"You would be surprised the number of very senior trainers who have gone that far, Gary," Ash said with a slight smile. "More than a few of the Gym Leaders have a 'favourite' Pokémon, if you get my drift."

Gary grimaced. Was it his imagination, or did Ash's Raichu shoot him a seductive wink? "You won't find me among them, Ash," he said. "I intend to keep my relationship with Arcanine strictly _professional_!" Ash laughed when he heard that.

"So… uh… what was it you were babbling to my receptionist about helping Grandpa?" he asked. Ash drew in a deep breath. His conversation with Gary last night had given him the proof that he sought. However, he had to know for _sure_. He had to hear unequivocal proof.

"I think I know how to find where the Rockets took him," Ash announced. "But it won't be easy. We'll have to outwit what is probably the smartest man in Kanto. He was able to get into your grandfather's _and_ my confidence and hide his treacherous nature for _years_ before he went through with his betrayal."

Gary nodded thoughtfully. "So who is he?" he asked. Perhaps there was a tension in his voice, but that was understandable.

Ash shook his head. "Are you sure you want to know?" He asked.

"Hey, why would you have come to me if you didn't need my help?" Gary asked. "Mine _and_ Arcanine's," he added with a wicked laugh.

Ash grinned and bowed, acknowledging the taunt. "I came because I knew I could trust you, Gary," Ash said. "People say bad things about you, but I know that your heart is too open, simple and honest to contain betrayal. You would never think of committing the same acts as he has. Even if you did, I would know at once."

"Hey, you think?" Gary asked uneasily.

"Of course," Ash said with a puzzled frown. "Gary, are you forgetting all the times I've beaten you in a Pokémon battle? I know your moves and I know how you think. You could never pull the wool over my eyes. I know your heart."

"Maybe you don't know me as well as you think," Gary snapped, suddenly looking angry. "I may have some secrets that you don't know about, man!"

"Maybe," Ash said with just a hint of a sneer, "but even if you do, and I _seriously_ doubt that, I doubt you could pull off something of this scale. It is _way _out of your league. Whoever did this was a brilliant strategic mind while you…" Ash shrugged and laughed dryly. "Gary, it barely occurred to you to use your Rhydon or your Golem when I used Pikachu, Magneton or Flaafy in the League!"

Gary jumped to his feet. "Don't push it, man," he hissed angrily. Now his pride was reacting. He hated it when _anyone_ wrote him off, but for _Ash _to do that was infuriating.

"Oh come on, Gary," Ash continued relentlessly. "When will you figure out that I am better than you? I have you _all worked out_."

Gary thrust his finger in Ash's face. His blood boiled in his ears as his cousin's words brought all the embarrassment, anger and shame of the last few weeks racing to the surface at once. Gary couldn't think straight. "It shows how much you know, man," he almost shouted. "This 'finest mind in Kanto' you talk about? The 'brilliant strategic mind' that made it possible for Team Rocket to capture you and then destroy our hometown? He is closer by than you think!"

Ash smirked. "I don't think so somehow," he said. "He is too smart to hang around. Besides, his kind are too cowardly to wait for the consequences of their acts to catch up with them."

"_I am no coward!_" Gary shouted. "I am not scared of _you_ or your dumb friends, Ash. _I_ am better than you and by doing this I have _proved it!_"

"You don't have the guts to do anything on this scale," Ash said, sneering in contempt.

"_That shows how little you know, dumb ass!_" Gary shouted. The other patrons of the 'Drunken Ditto' turned around to look. Gary didn't notice. Ash's clear contempt made his anger and hatred run out of all control. He forgot the need for secrecy, he forgot that Ash would want revenge, indeed he forgot everything except his need to wipe Ash's sneer off his face. He continued, his voice rising to a scream, louder than it had ever been before. "Everyone said that I was a failure, that I should learn to be more like you if I wanted to be a success! Well I showed _them!_ I beat you, Ash. I _out-thought you and out-fought you! _I PROVED THAT I AM BETTER THAN YOU! _I _AM THE ONE WHO BETRAYED YOU, AND _I AM THE ONE WHO MADE it POSSIBLE FOR TEAM ROCKET TO CONQUER PALLET TOWN_!"

"I know," Ash said gently, surprising Gary with the disappointment and grief in his voice. "The only question is… why?"

Gary stopped dead, suddenly realising what he had said. He reached for a Pokéball, but before he could pull it from his belt, Ash's Meganium dived from under the next table along. She looped her vine whips around Gary's arms, pinning them and lifting him off the ground. [You are a very bad man,] she hissed. [You hurt my Ashy!] 

Ash was suddenly a little worried. When she was a Chikorita, Meganium had a big crush on him, and two evolutions had not changed her feelings about him one bit. She was angry enough about the Rockets capturing and hurting Ash to injure Gary in revenge. "Go easy, Meganium," he warned.

Misty, Jessie and James suddenly appeared. Jessie and James pulled off Gary's Pokébelt as Misty handcuffed him, deliberately closing the bracelets too hard, making the Earth Gym Leader hiss in pain.

"You… you can't do this…" Gary said, fear colouring his voice. "Nothing I said is actionable! _None_ of it will stand up in court!"

"You aren't going to go before any court, you dumb Twerp," James sneered.

"Although, you may wish that you were," Jessie concluded with a carnivorous smile.

Gary looked on in terror as Ash walked up to him. "You have caused a lot of suffering for some reason, Gary," Ash announced. "So don't expect any favours from Team Thunderbolt."

[No indeed,] Raichu hissed, electricity crackling around his cheek-pads, [you can only expect _punishment_!] That was a threat that Meganium endorsed wholeheartedly.

"Get… get off of me," Gary said. Suddenly he started shouting. "HELP! Someone call the Police, they're trying to _kidnap_…"

"Oh boy, Togetic, use Hypnosis," Misty said, rolling her eyes.

[Sleep tight, you bad man,] Togetic chirped. The little psychic-type's eyes glowed and Gary slumped forwards, unconscious.

"Fraternity initiation rite," Ash explained to the stunned patrons of the bar with a broad, guileless smile. "He'll be okay."

"Well, we've got him," Jessie said. "Now what?"

"We get him to tell us who took charge of my Mom, the Professor and Joy," Ash said. He saw Misty's look and nodded. "Oh he knows, all right," he said. "Gary likes to gloat far too much for his own good. You can be sure he was there to sneer as the Rockets led them away. Once we know who to find, we'll get _them_ and they will tell us where they took their hostages."

***

Delilah Ketchum was worried, and not about what her psychopathic ex-husband might do to her either. She _was_ afraid of him, of course, but most of terror came from uncertainty. Delilah felt fairly sure about what Joe would do to her. He would probably rape her a few times (and maybe let some of his minions in on the fun) and then have her tortured to death. Oh, he would probably video it for Ash's benefit too. Somehow, already knowing took a lot of the torment out of the situation. There was only the pain of knowing that her son would almost certainly see her utter humiliation and her death.

No, she was _really_ worried about Sam Oak. He had fought pretty hard when Team Rocket attacked his laboratories. They hadn't bothered to be gentle with him and had given him a very severe concussion. Right now, he was slipping in and out of consciousness and suffering from continual nosebleeds. Delilah was caring for him as best as she could. She had screamed and hollered for about fifteen minutes until one of the guards had handed her a field medical kit and told her to shut up. Right now, Delilah was fairly confident that Sam would recover. The unfortunate fact of the situation, however, was that she was probably nursing him back to health for his execution.

Delilah was also worried about poor Joy Burke. A gang of Dan'in fighters, who were all male and of a rather brutal demeanour, had taken the younger woman from the cell about half an hour ago. Delilah didn't want to imagine what the poor woman might be going through…

Suddenly the cell door burst open and Joy was practically thrown inside. "Get in there you rabid bitch!" a male voice shouted. The door slammed shut and Delilah heard the keys turn in the lock.

"Joy?" she asked gently. Joy looked up. There were dried tears on her cheeks, her blouse and jeans were torn in a way that indicated someone had roughly stripped her, and her left eye was bruised and reddened. "Joy, oh my poor dear, they didn't… did they…?"

Joy managed a shaky smile. "They tried," she said. She paused, coughed and spat out blood. "I thrashed around, bit anything that came within range and kicked three of them in the balls." Joy grinned in a disturbingly feral way. "I gave better than I got, Delilah, never fear. One of those bastards is only _genetically_ a male now!"

Delilah swallowed dryly and wondered idly if the blood Joy had just spat out was _her _blood. She shook her head and helped the other woman onto the cell's other bed. Her training as a nurse allowed her to determine that Joy's ribs and groin were badly bruised and there was the danger of internal bleeding. "Just rest, Joy," Delilah counselled. "I'm sure Ash is moving heaven and Earth to help us,"

"Yeah," Joy said. She groaned as a broken rib moved around a bit. "I worry about Brock. He must be going mad with worry. I… he…" Joy trailed off, shaking her head.

"You still care for him," Delilah said, not turning from her ministrations. "You have never stopped loving him for one moment."

"Not once," Joy admitted. Tears began to form in the former Pokémon nurse's eyes. "Now it is too late for both of us."

"I won't accept that," Delilah snapped, putting aside her own pessimistic fears in a desire to keep the other woman strong. "Don't give up hope, Joy." Delilah leaned in close. "Sabrina touched my mind while you were out 'entertaining,'" Delilah revealed in a discreet murmur. "Ash is looking for us. Have faith in my son."

"He can do wonders," Joy replied, "but can he do the impossible, Delilah?"

Delilah smiled. "'Impossible,' Joy?" she said with a slight smile. "My son doesn't understand the meaning of the word!"

***

Gary groaned as his brain reset itself after Togetic's attack. For some reason he couldn't move his arms… Oh… _shit_!

"Look who's come around," Lance Hook, Ash's tame Fighting-type master called.

James Weston stuck his head around the corner of the door to the room where Gary was lying. "Okay, get him on his feet," James ordered in a cool tone. "Ash wants a word with him."

***

"Oh… God…" Joy Anderson said. Mewtwo rolled off his lover and she rolled over to look at him in the eye. "Are you practising on someone without telling me?" she asked as soon as she got her breath back.

__

I would never betray your love, the genetically engineered psychic-type Pokémon assured her in a firm tone of voice. _I simply… ah… explore your dreams. I then apply those subconscious desires to our time together_.

Joy went bright red. "Are you telling me that what you did was based on something I _dreamt?_" she blurted out. 

She felt Mewtwo's psychic laughter in her mind. _Did it not please you?_

"God, yes, but I can't believe…" She shook her head. "Can… can you do it again?"

Mewtwo laughed silently once again and reached towards the one human who meant more to him than anything else in the universe. Suddenly he stopped dead, hearing something that only a psychic could hear. _Wait_… he said. _Do you hear that?_

"Hear… hear what?" Joy asked, swallowing her disappointment and her anger at the sudden interruption.

__

Listen, Mewtwo instructed quietly. Joy lay back on their big circular bed, drew in a deep breath and did as he instructed. Mewtwo always insisted that all humans had immense psychic potential that something prevented them from utilising, either upbringing or some ancient superstitious fear. He had been training Joy patiently and hard to utilise her potential. After three years, she had reached the point where she could 'receive' a psychic communication rather than have it imposed on her mind by the 'sender.' Even now, she was nothing compared to him, and even compared to most human psychics like Sabrina von Daimen.

As Joy allowed her conscious senses to drift and fade, she 'felt' something on the very edge of her perceptions. It was dark, red and powerful with everything violent and dangerous that existed in the human heart. Near it, weaker but just as filled with potential, was something blue and alive with love and caring. The two were connected somehow, and Joy could sense the blue soothing the red and helping it transcend the darkness. _What is it?_ she asked, unaware that she was 'pathing for the first time in her life.

__

It is the Chosen Ones, Mewtwo replied gently. _Feel the pain and the anguish. Ash Ketchum is now as close to the Dark Side as he is ever likely to get. Notice the power of the link between him and Misty Waterflower._

Yes… Joy replied. _It is more than just the bond of love… they truly are one somehow. It is almost as if she is holding him to the light. He is her strength, and she is his humanity, just as you told me before._

Hey, have I ever been wrong? Mewtwo asked, cocking a brow.

"Never, love," Joy said. "That was incredible Mewtwo. What is happening with them that makes them transmit so powerfully?"

__

They have found the Betrayer, Mewtwo told his lover. _They have only a limited time in which to extract the information they need from the foul one's heart._ The psi-type drew in a deep breath. _Soon, very soon, I will have to intervene once again_. Mewtwo returned to the here-and-now. _By the way, when did you learn to 'send' telepathically?_

"But I can't…" Joy protested and then stopped, a look of amazement crossing her pale face. "I… I did didn't I… I was so focussed on the power within…" She grinned and then gasped. Then she leaned forward to hug Mewtwo. _I… I think that I prefer it this way_, she told him. The prejudice that using telepathy made you less human didn't worry her. She had seen enough of humanity's seedier side as a Pokémon nurse not to have any particular need for humanity.

__

It is a more efficient method of communication, Mewtwo agreed,_ and it allows us to keep talking, even when we are busy with something else_. That latter comment was transmitted even though his rough feline tongue was now entirely busy in another task altogether.

***

Near the centre of the ruins of Pallet Town was a fairly intact building that had once been an office/warehouse complex. With its' thick concrete walls, large storage space, T2 and ISDN communications lines (still intact) and highly secure commercial power system, it was perfect for other uses. With the destruction of Professor Oak's research centre, the Thunderbolts had adopted it as their new base of operations, which Lance (with inappropriate levity) had christened 'The Gang Hut.'

Inside an area that was apparently some kind of engineering lab before the Team Rocket sack of Pallet Town, Ash Ketchum paced restlessly as Misty and Raichu looked on worriedly. "Ash," she said, "calm down. We're going as fast as possible."

Ash paused, sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "I can't Misty," he said in a low tone. "I can't stop hearing the clock ticking."

Misty was about to reply when Sabrina and Duplicia walked in. "Ash," Duplicia announced, "Gary has woken up."

"Good," Ash said. 

"He had this around his neck," Duplicia continued, throwing something to Ash. Ash caught the necklace mid-air. The pendant was a blood-red stylised capital letter 'R.' "Jessie said that only Team Rocket undercover agents wear that symbol," Duplicia continued. Raichu saw the necklace and recognised its' import; the electric-type hissed angrily.

Ash snorted. "Well that is a disappointment, but not a particularly big surprise." He turned to Sabrina. "Sabrina, have you been able to find anything out?"

"Not as much as I hoped," Sabrina said unhappily, only too aware of the red turmoil in Ash's soul that had caught Mewtwo and Joy's attention over 10,000 miles away. "Gary has a very strong will and a very disciplined mind. I haven't been able to find anything relevant to who took charge of our friends. I doubt I could do that without a forced deep scan, which would probably render him mindless by the time I found the information we need."

Misty swallowed, repulsed by the thought of reducing Gary to a vegetable. To her horror, Ash didn't seem as affected. "Well, we'll keep that option available as a last resort," he said. "Have you discovered _anything_?"

"Yes," Sabrina said. "He _is_ the Betrayer. His entire conscious and sub-conscious thought processes are dominated by feelings of guilt about what happened to Pallet Town and triumph at beating you and his grandfather in a battle of wits."

"So he's proud is he?" Ash asked, his face an icy, metallic mask. "Well, we'll see if I can reach him. Bring him in."

"Ash, remember the difference between light and dark," Misty warned quietly. Ash waved her off with an expression that he hoped would be reassuring.

Richie and Lance very nearly carried Gary into the room. The man was resisting as best as he could, thrashing wildly and trying to kick their legs from under them. "You won't get away with this, Ash," he screamed at his cousin. "I am a Gym Leader; _important people_. You can't just kidnap me and expect to get away with it! I have _rights_!"

"_Rights_?" Misty asked in horror. "You have been party to a _massacre_ Gary. You are a vile criminal and you expect us to care about your _rights_?"

"Besides," Ash said with a nasty smile, "no one knows you've been kidnapped. You have 'gone into seclusion' in 'grief' at what happened to your hometown." Gary gaped when he heard that, then snapped his mouth shut, shooting Ash a venomous stare.

Ash smirked dangerously. "Richie, loop his 'cuffs through the overhead pipe," Ash instructed. Richie was surprised at that order, but did what he was told. In seconds, Gary was hanging from an overhead drainpipe or something similar. The tips of his feet were barely touching the ground. He looked _very_ uncomfortable, but he tried to look defiant as Ash looked him in the eye.

"So, what is first, Ash?" he asked, trying to be mocking. "The bamboo slivers or the thumbscrews?"

"Gary," Ash said gently, "I won't give you that satisfaction." Gary looked surprised. "We have twelve days to save the lives of three people who are very important to me, Gary," Ash continued. "My mother, your grandfather and a woman who has only ever cared about helping others. But if we are to do that, we need to know something that only you know. Who took them from Pallet Town? And, if you know, where did they take them?"

Gary sneered in reply. "You must be demented if you think I will help you, man," he said.

"Gary," Ash said, more firmly and angrily this time, "I won't bother to appeal to your better nature, because I don't think you have one. So I will just appeal to your self-interest. We already know enough to secure a conviction in court. If you don't co-operate, we'll hand you over to the SPs, and you can think this one over for the next six months in The Anvil, waiting for the trial that will ensure you spend the rest of your _life_ there."

That was a weak bluff, Ash knew, and Gary saw through it immediately. "Yeah, and while I'm still awaiting my remand hearing, your mommy, Gramps and the pathetic squint-eye's squeeze will be dying in a Rocket torture chamber somewhere," Gary said. He snorted in amusement. "Don't make me laugh."

Ash tensed at Gary's cheerful acceptance of the three hostages' deaths. His fists closed spasmodically and he took a single step forward towards his cousin. "Gary, don't you understand that their deaths will be on your conscience? You've already loaded so many sins onto your soul, but these will be big ones!"

"Ash, don't you understand that I don't care?" Gary taunted in a singsong tone of voice.

"Jesus, Gary, what are you made of?" Misty said in disbelief.

"Why, Gary?" Ash asked.

"What?" Gary was surprised by this question.

"Why did you do it?" Ash asked again. "What was so important that you had to hand me over to Team Rocket? What was so important that you had to betray your whole hometown to them?"

Gary smiled in a very sick way. "Well… there was the money of course," Gary admitted. "Your old man pays well for services rendered, Ashy-boy! Have you ever thought of switching sides on economic grounds?"

"Money?" Misty said in horror.

"You said you wanted to get free of your grandfather's charity," Ash recalled. "Was that it?" Contempt leaked into his tone. "Are you really that shallow and pathetic?"

"Oh no," Gary said, snarling at the insult Ash had offered him. "No there was more than that, Ash." Gary drew in a deep breath, his eyes glittering with hate, before he continued. "Do you know what it is like to be me, Ash?" he asked. "All my life, I have fought for other people's approval. First my parents, then my grandfather, and later the people who watch the Pokémon League. I have tried harder, studied harder and trained harder than anyone else! I have fought all my life to be the very best that has _ever_ been. And tell me, who is the youngest person ever to win the Indigo League? Who was the youngest Supreme Champion in history? _You_, my lazy no-account mutant freak of a cousin, that's who! A guy who doesn't even _know _how to properly train a Pokémon, but who through a trick gene can somehow bond with them on a level that no other Trainer can match! You wiped the floor with me every time we met, Ash-boy, and I'll never forgive you for that."

"That's it?" Ash said in disbelief. "All because I have performed better than you in the League?"

"NO, DAMN YOU!" Gary shouted. "It is because all my life, I have had you _rubbed in my face_, time and time again. If it wasn't my parents, it was May, or Grandfather, or even your mom, Ash. 'Gary, you are a fine Trainer, but you just don't understand Pokémon.'" Gary said, modulating his tone to make it clear it was something that had been said to him time and time again. "'Look at Ash, he gets to know them as friends and they fight all the harder for him!' _Bullshit!_" Gary's face was pale and sweaty now. "You have stolen my life, Ash," he said angrily. "You have stolen everything that should have been _mine_! Well, I got you back didn't I? And when your Mom, Gramps and Joy go to Hell, it will be because of me! And when your old man's assassins finally cut you down, it will be because of _me_! And everyone will know that GARY OAK was the better man!"

"You pitiful slime," Ash said at last, his voice dripping with contempt and a barely concealed violence. "You don't even know how small you really are!" He walked over and took Gary's jaw in his hand and forced him to look in his eyes. "It isn't too late for you Gary," he said. "You should abandon this _childish_ desire for revenge. I mean, for God's sake, _nothing_ I or the others have done justifies _this_!" Ash paused and ran a shaking hand through his hair before continuing. "But first you have to tell us who took our friends and kin so we can save them!"

"_Never_," Gary said. "I will burn in Hell first! And I want you to know something: I hope that your friends and family die in torment at your old man's hands. I hope they die screaming and cursing you for not coming to save them. And I will _laugh_ when Giovanni sends you an unedited video of the whole event!" Gary laughed; a high, demented sound. He was unaware of the growing look of animal _hatred_ on Ash's face. "I especially hope that he gets your mom to scream for him, Ash," he continued. "I think she's hot, and I bet that a slut like her _enjoys_ the gang-bangs that the Rockets lay on for their lady guests!"

"You… MOTHER-FUCKER!" Ash screamed. He saw red, literally. The punch came from nowhere and struck Gary's nose so hard that it simply _exploded_ as it flattened out. Blood splashed out into Ash's eyes and for a few seconds he was blind.

"Jesus, Ash," Misty gasped.

[Ash, he can't talk if he's dead!] Raichu shouted from where he was standing in a corner.

Ash didn't hear either his lover or his best friend. He grabbed Gary's shirt, feeling a primitive joy at the agony and terror on his enemy's face. "Who took them, Gary?" he shouted. "NAMES! PLACES!"

"Up… yours…" Gary gasped around the blood streaming down his face.

Ash went berserk. The first blow smashed Gary's left cheekbone. The second, a low punch, broke a rib. The third blow snapped Gary's jawbone like a twig and sent blood and smashed teeth flying across the room. The fourth buckled his breastbone and made it impossible for him to breathe easily. Ash was screaming out his hatred and hitting Gary again and again.

"Ash, stop it, you'll _kill_ him!" Misty screamed.

Several pairs of hands grabbed Ash and dragged him away from the bleeding wreckage of Gary Oak, who had already dropped into the comforting void of unconsciousness. "You bet that I'll kill him!" Ash yelled maniacally. "Let go of me you traitorous bastards! _Let go!_" Ash's flailing left arm caught Misty with a blow that sent her tumbling to the ground with a surprised cry of pain.

There was a sudden deathly silence and Ash went utterly limp. "M… Misty?" he said. He looked down to where Misty was trying to get her senses back. A trickle of blood ran from the side of her mouth. "Oh, God, Misty… _what have I done_?" Ash's appalled gaze turned to where Gary hung, now resembling more a tender slab of meat than his proud cousin. "Gary…? Gary, please say something… No… NO!" Ash began to struggle more violently than ever. Jessie, James, Sabrina, Duplicia and Lance all grabbed him hard, trying to hold him down. "Get off of me," he shouted. "Raichu, get them off!"

[Ash, calm down!] Raichu begged, running over to his Trainer. 

Suddenly, Ash reached down and activated a Pokéball. "Meganium, _I choose you!_" Ash's ultra-loyal plant-type materialised. "Get them _off me!_" Ash shouted.

Before anyone could react, a cloud of stun spores enveloped the Thunderbolts. Misty saw the flash of two recall lasers. When the cloud of choking spores was gone, Ash, Raichu and Meganium were both missing. "Ash…?" Misty said looking around. "Ash… ASH COME BACK!" Misty suddenly fled through the open emergency exit door and into the maze of ruins that was once Pallet Town.

"Misty!" Lance shouted. "Come back!" He turned back to the other Thunderbolts. "We should go after them!"

"No," James interrupted, grabbing Lance by his shoulder. "I think this is something that they will have to work out for themselves." Lance drew in a deep breath, about to protest, then nodded. After all, James knew them far better than he did. "Until they get back, we'd better make sure that Mr. Oak doesn't die on us," James continued in an ironic tone of voice. "A dead prisoner is worth nothing."

As they cut Gary down and began to work on his injuries, Jessie caught herself looking out of the door. _Ash, brother,_ she thought, _I hope Misty is enough to help you. I couldn't take losing another of my family to hate_.

Hopelessly lost in the maze of demolished buildings, Misty fell to her knees and began to weep. "Ash…" she whispered, desperately hoping that her breaking heart could send her call to her lover. "Ash, please come back…"

__

To be continued…


	7. On the Edge of the Abyss

**__**

PoKéMoN

Avenger – by Ben Russell-Gough

****

Legal Disclaimer

Pokémon, the Pocket Monsters and their human friends and enemies are all the sole copyright and trademark property of Nintendo Entertainment, Game Freak Software and 4 Kids Productions. No breach of any copyright or legal property is intended.

****

Author's Notes

This is my first Pokémon fic. I _still _don't know all the monsters or the moves, so please forgive me if I get something glaringly wrong. I can only base my work on the little I've seen of the cartoon. 

I want to take this opportunity to thank all the other Fanfiction.NET authors for providing plenty of information, feedback and honest advice. It has made my work much better and more satisfying to read, I think. Special thanks must go to Charles 'Rocketboy' Reilly, Wind, Chuchino, Joshua Falken and Catalina Storm for their invaluable detailed feedback.

Text in [squared-off brackets] is translated Pokémon talk

Text in _Italics_ but not in quotes indicates thought or telepathic communication

This is an **Alternate Universe** fic.

Ages: Ash and Misty are 17; Brock is 25; Jessie and James are both 23; Richie is 17; Duplicia is 18; Sabrina is 24; Lance is 16; Joy is 29; Delilah is 38; Professor Oak is 47; Gary is 18.

****

Censor: R (Equivalent to UK '15' Certificate)

Content Warning: Swearing & violence

****

What has gone before…

It is a time of struggle, with the forces of good, personified by Ash Ketchum and his allies in Team Thunderbolt, locked in mortal struggle with the forces of darkness, as personified by Giovanni diRocketti, Ash's estranged father and the sadistic leader of Team Rocket.

Dark days lie of the struggle for peace and justice. Assisted by a terrible act of betrayal by Ash's long-term rival Gary Oak, Team Rocket has destroyed Ash's home town of Pallet Town and captured Ash's mother, Professor Samuel Oak (Ash's uncle and surrogate father) and Joy Burke, one of Ash's allies in Team Thunderbolt.

Giovanni gives his son a simple ultimatum. Either surrender to him in fourteen days or he will have the three hostages killed horribly. 

Desperate, Ash tracks down Gary Oak, who is also his cousin, and tricks him into confessing his complicity with the destruction of their hometown. Gary is the key, Ash is sure. If Ash can persuade him to talk, he might find the hostages before it is too late and rescue them, leaving the way clear for Team Thunderbolt to continue its' quest to see peace and justice restored to the Kanto region…

***

"Gary," Ash said, more firmly and angrily this time, "I won't bother to appeal to your better nature, because I don't think you have one. So I will just appeal to your self-interest. We already know enough to secure a conviction in court. If you don't co-operate, we'll hand you over to the SPs, and you can think this one over for the next six months in The Anvil, waiting for the trial that will ensure you spend the rest of your _life_ there."

That was a weak bluff, Ash knew, and Gary saw through it immediately. "Yeah, and while I'm still awaiting my remand hearing, your mommy, Gramps and the pathetic squint-eye's squeeze will be dying in a Rocket torture chamber somewhere," Gary said. He snorted in amusement. "Don't make me laugh."

Ash tensed at Gary's cheerful acceptance of the three hostages' deaths. His fists closed spasmodically and he took a single step forward towards his cousin. "Gary, don't you understand that their deaths will be on your conscience? You've already loaded so many sins onto your soul, but these will be big ones!"

"Ash, don't you understand that I don't care?" Gary taunted in a singsong tone of voice.

"Jesus, Gary, what are you made of?" Misty said in disbelief.

"Why, Gary?" Ash asked.

"What?" Gary was surprised by this question.

"Why did you do it?" Ash asked again. "What was so important that you had to hand me over to Team Rocket? What was so important that you had to betray your whole hometown to them?"

Gary smiled in a very sick way. "Well… there was the money of course," Gary admitted. "Your old man pays well for services rendered, Ashy-boy! Have you ever thought of switching sides on economic grounds?"

"Money?" Misty said in horror.

"You said you wanted to get free of your grandfather's charity," Ash recalled. "Was that it?" Contempt leaked into his tone. "Are you really that shallow and pathetic?"

"Oh no," Gary said, snarling at the insult Ash had offered him. "No there was more than that, Ash." Gary drew in a deep breath, his eyes glittering with hate, before he continued. "Do you know what it is like to be me, Ash?" he asked. "All my life, I have fought for other people's approval. First my parents, then my grandfather, and later the people who watch the Pokémon League. I have tried harder, studied harder and trained harder than anyone else! I have fought all my life to be the very best that has _ever_ been. And tell me, who is the youngest person ever to win the Indigo League? Who was the youngest Supreme Champion in history? _You_, my lazy no-account mutant freak of a cousin, that's who! A guy who doesn't even _know _how to properly train a Pokémon, but who through a trick gene can somehow bond with them on a level that no other Trainer can match! You wiped the floor with me every time we met, Ash-boy, and I'll never forgive you for that."

"That's it?" Ash said in disbelief. "All because I have performed better than you in the League?"

"NO, DAMN YOU!" Gary shouted. "It is because all my life, I have had you _rubbed in my face_, time and time again. If it wasn't my parents, it was May, or Grandfather, or even your mom, Ash. 'Gary, you are a fine Trainer, but you just don't understand Pokémon.'" Gary said, modulating his tone to make it clear it was something that had been said to him time and time again. "'Look at Ash, he gets to know them as friends and they fight all the harder for him!' _Bullshit!_" Gary's face was pale and sweaty now. "You have stolen my life, Ash," he said angrily. "You have stolen everything that should have been _mine_! Well, I got you back didn't I? And when your Mom, Gramps and Joy go to Hell, it will be because of me! And when your old man's assassins finally cut you down, it will be because of _me_! And everyone will know that GARY OAK was the better man!"

"You pitiful slime," Ash said at last, his voice dripping with contempt and a barely concealed violence. "You don't even know how small you really are!" He walked over and took Gary's jaw in his hand and forced him to look in his eyes. "It isn't too late for you Gary," he said. "You should abandon this _childish_ desire for revenge. I mean, for God's sake, _nothing_ I or the others have done justifies _this_!" Ash paused and ran a shaking hand through his hair before continuing. "But first you have to tell us who took our friends and kin so we can save them!"

"_Never_," Gary said. "I will burn in Hell first! And I want you to know something: I hope that your friends and family die in torment at your old man's hands. I hope they die screaming and cursing you for not coming to save them. And I will _laugh_ when Giovanni sends you an unedited video of the whole event!" Gary laughed; a high, demented sound. He was unaware of the growing look of animal _hatred_ on Ash's face. "I especially hope that he gets your mom to scream for him, Ash," he continued. "I think she's hot, and I bet that a slut like her _enjoys_ the gang-bangs that the Rockets lay on for their lady guests!"

Ash saw red, literally. The punch came from nowhere and struck Gary's nose so hard that it simply _exploded_ as it flattened out. Blood splashed out into Ash's eyes and for a few seconds he was blind. Ash grabbed Gary's shirt, feeling a primitive joy at the agony and terror on his enemy's face. "Who took them, Gary?" he shouted. "NAMES! PLACES!"

"Up… yours…" Gary gasped around the blood streaming down his face.

Ash went berserk. The first blow smashed Gary's left cheekbone. The second, a low punch, broke a rib. The third blow snapped Gary's jawbone like a twig and sent blood and smashed teeth flying across the room. The fourth buckled his breastbone and made it impossible for him to breathe easily. Ash was screaming out his hatred and hitting Gary again and again.

"Ash, stop it, you'll _kill_ him!" Misty screamed.

Several pairs of hands grabbed Ash and dragged him away from the bleeding wreckage of Gary Oak, who had already dropped into the comforting void of unconsciousness. "You bet that I'll kill him!" Ash yelled maniacally. "Let go of me you traitorous bastards! _Let go!_" Ash's flailing left arm caught Misty with a blow that sent her tumbling to the ground with a surprised cry of pain.

There was a sudden deathly silence and Ash went utterly limp. "M… Misty?" he said. He looked down to where Misty was trying to get her senses back. A trickle of blood ran from the side of her mouth. "Oh, God, Misty… _what have I done_?" Ash's appalled gaze turned to where Gary hung, now resembling more a tender slab of meat than his proud cousin. "Gary…? Gary, please say something… No… NO!" Ash began to struggle more violently than ever. Jessie, James, Sabrina, Duplicia and Lance all grabbed him hard, trying to hold him down. "Get off of me," he shouted. "Raichu, get them off!"

[Ash, calm down!] Raichu begged, running over to his Trainer. 

Suddenly, Ash reached down and activated a Pokéball. "Meganium, _I choose you!_" Ash's ultra-loyal plant-type materialised. "Get them _off me!_" Ash shouted.

Before anyone could react, a cloud of stun spores enveloped the Thunderbolts. Misty saw the flash of two recall lasers. When the cloud of choking spores was gone, Ash, Raichu and Meganium were both missing. "Ash…?" Misty said looking around. "Ash… ASH COME BACK!" Misty suddenly fled through the open emergency exit door and into the maze of ruins that was once Pallet Town.

"Misty!" Lance shouted. "Come back!" He turned back to the other Thunderbolts. "We should go after them!"

"No," James interrupted, grabbing Lance by his shoulder. "I think this is something that they will have to work out for themselves." Lance drew in a deep breath, about to protest, then nodded. After all, James knew them far better than he did. "Until they get back, we'd better make sure that Mr. Oak doesn't die on us," James continued in an ironic tone of voice. "A dead prisoner is worth nothing."

As they cut Gary down and began to work on his injuries, Jessie caught herself looking out of the door. _Ash, brother,_ she thought, _I hope Misty is enough to help you. I couldn't take losing another of my family to hate_.

Hopelessly lost in the maze of demolished buildings, Misty fell to her knees and began to weep. "Ash…" she whispered, desperately hoping that her breaking heart could send her call to her lover. "Ash, please come back…"

__

And now, the continuation…

****

Book 2 – Team Rocket Strikes Back

__

Chapter 7 – On the Edge of the Abyss

Misty knelt weeping in the ruins. Her heart was broken; she was sure that she would never see Ash again. It hurt so much to lose him after giving her heart to him so completely. It hurt worse realising that in inflicting this final defeat, Team Rocket would be free to impose its' tyranny on the world once more. 

Then, she felt a presence. There was a power watching her with an utterly _alien_ perspective. Half blinded by tears, she looked up into the face of a Legendary Bird. Standing at over fifty feet tall and with a wingspan of 150 feet, the Legendary Birds were all impressive, but few had the visual impact as this grey-brown creature, seemingly carved from rock rather than flesh. MissingNo, the so-called 'God of Stone.' 

Ash encountered The God of Stone on Cinnabar Island and, like all the other Legendary Birds, MissingNo volunteered his services to 'The Chosen One' without hesitation, but something always worried Misty about his rather careless attitude towards life. None of the Legendary Birds could be truthfully described as 'evil,' but MissingNo and one other, Vercinimous Wing, the God of the Shadows, had a perspective on reality that made them cold and indifferent to human codes of morality.

"M… MissingNo?" Misty asked. "Why are you here?"

__

I am here in the service of the Chosen One, MissingNo answered in Misty's mind. Misty found the creature's sparkling sapphire blue eyes strangely entrancing, and his words brought hope to her broken heart.

"Ash… Ash sent you to me?" she asked hopefully.

There was one of those curious pauses that Misty often encountered when she asked a Pokémon a question that they genuinely did not understand. _No,_ MissingNo finally replied. _The Chosen One summoned me_.

Misty struggled to her feet and tried to understand the Legendary Bird's words. "But… Isn't Ash the Chosen One?"

__

He is, the God of Stone replied in his dark voice. _However, the Guardian did not summon me to this place of ruins. The Chosen One did. The Healer._

"I… I don't understand," Misty said.

__

You are the Chosen One, MissingNo said in a tone that indicated he thought this was self-evident. _The Guardian is the protector of the future and the chosen guide of destiny; you are the Healer, that which allows the Guardian to survive this burden with his soul intact._ Misty could have sworn that there was a gentle psychic laughter drifting around her.

Misty shook off her surprise. Ash was all that mattered now. She had to get to him before he hurt himself. She stepped forward to MissingNo. "MissingNo, I have to find Ash, can you take me to him?" If MissingNo had a mouth rather than a quartic crystal beak, he would have smiled. Misty's preoccupation with Ash's safety was the proof of his words.

__

Effortlessly, he announced. _Ride on my shoulders, Misty, daughter of Rosemary and Thomas._

Swallowing her fear and confusion, Misty pulled herself up MissingNo's flanks and sat astride the Legendary Bird's neck. With a scream, the God of Stone launched himself into the skies. There was a double boom as the massive Pokémon slammed through the sound barrier and lanced off to the north-west. 

As Misty and MissingNo vanished into the early afternoon sky, Mewtwo and an amazed Joy Anderson stood in she shadows of a ruined office block. Mewtwo grinned. _It is satisfying, is it not,_ he said, _when your suppositions are proven correct so very dramatically?_

Joy shook her head. "If I didn't know better, I'd accuse you of arranging the whole damn thing!" she remarked.

***

MissingNo dropped out of the sky into a forest clearing. Under the shadow of the wings of Arbora, the Legendary Bird who was the personification of life, the Goddess of the Forest, Ash was literally grovelling on his knees, his face buried in his hands.

Misty jumped from her Pokémon's neck and hit the ground running. There was nothing in her mind except a desperate need to get to Ash. "Ash!" she shouted.

"M… Misty?" Ash said, looking up. His eyes were bright red, and the tracks of endless tears wound down his face. "Misty, please, stay back!" There was such pain and desperation in his voice that there was no chance, no chance at all of her obeying his desperate plea. Misty skidded to a halt on her knees beside him and engulfed him in her arms. "Please Misty," Ash begged. "Get away… I don't want to hurt you!"

"Ash, I love you, I can't leave!" Misty replied, beginning to cry herself.

"Please go," Ash grated. "I… I can feel it inside of me Misty, trying to get out. I'm afraid that I can't stop it!"

"What?" Misty asked. "Ash, if you are sick, we can go to the hospital they set up in the town…"

"I am sick," Ash said, his voice suddenly quiet and filled with horror, "but it isn't a sickness that any doctor could cure… except with a lethal injection…"

"No, Ash," Misty shouted, shaking him hard. "I won't let you talk like that! It _isn't_ your time to die! What is _wrong _with you all of a sudden?"

There was a long pause, and when Ash looked into Misty's eyes, she saw nothing but an unhealthy desire for oblivion. "I finally worked it out," he said. "Why father has done all of this. He doesn't care about Mom, the Professor and Joy. He could have captured me without Gary's help too, given enough time and effort." Ash swallowed. "It was all just to get to me, to attack my most vulnerable spot: my heart. And he's winning Misty. I can feel the blackness crawling around inside of me. I… I'm turning into another Giovanni. I can feel it."

"No!" Misty shouted. "No, Ash, you aren't! You'll never be like him! NEVER!"

"It has already begun," Ash said, his voice sounding lost, frightened and very _young_. "When I started hitting Gary… It felt so very good Misty. I wanted to keep hitting him until he screamed… keep hitting until he begged for mercy… until he died at my hands… I couldn't stop… it felt so very, very, good…" Ash collapsed down onto his face, covering his head with his arms. "God forgive me… what have I become…?"

Misty groaned and hugged Ash tightly. "Ash, I'm here for you," she said. "I want to help you. Please let me help you."

Ash looked up at her from the corner of his eye in a strangely measuring way. "Do you?" he asked hopefully. Misty nodded mutely. Ash swallowed and sat up straight. "Then help me," he said. "Please, kill me."

There was a long silence, broken only by birdsong and the sound of wind through the trees. "What?" Misty whispered.

"Please, before I go too far," Ash said hopelessly. "Before I kill someone. Before I sink so far that I don't _want_ to be stopped. Before I try to do to you and the others what father did to the original Team Rocket and tried to do to Mom…" Ash had begun to weep silently. "_Please_, Misty… for the love of God, just do it. You are a fine Trainer, I know that you can do it quickly and painlessly."

"No…" Misty said. "No… No I won't do it Ash, and you mustn't ask me to do it!"

"Then my father has already won," Ash said, in a low, hopeless voice, lowering his eyes to the ground once again.

***

Jessie Scarlet looked down at the pitiful bandaged remains of Gary Oak and felt no pity for the broken young man, only contempt. For nothing more than money and a pathetic personal jealousy of Ash's achievements, he had betrayed his family twice, co-operated in mass murder and in the ruination of countless lives. What is more, he felt no shame for his acts, only a satisfaction that he was causing his enemies pain. "You deserve this," she said, dropping his Team Rocket ID necklace onto his bandaged chest. "You really are Team Rocket material."

Jessie shook her head and looked up at Sabrina. "Well?" she demanded.

Jessie's commanding tone didn't upset Sabrina. She knew that the red-haired woman was a genuinely good person, and that her gruff and abrupt manner was a kind of defence against a terrible history. "He is still shielding his thoughts," Sabrina reported. She felt a grudging admiration for the orderliness and strength of Gary's will. Ash had beaten him half to death and he was now so heavily sedated that no hint of conscious brain function was possible, and yet he _still_ had the information they needed buried under the toughest mental shields she had encountered besides those protecting Ash and Misty's minds. 

"Then we're dead," Jessie said.

"Don't give up hope," James advised his lover, putting an arm around her waist. "As long as there is life, there is hope. I'm sure Ash will do something."

"Ash has gone insane," Jessie said dryly. "And Misty hasn't returned. God alone knows if either of them are still alive now."

"Don't say that," James snapped.

"For God's sake, wake up and smell the coffee James," Jessie snapped. "We're _finished_, okay? There could only be one winner in this little vendetta, and it looks like the favourite is going to win after all!" James clenched his fists, ready to shout his reply.

"Don't be so sure," Sabrina interrupted. Jessie and James turned to her, forgetting their own argument. "The Chosen One is a being with many resources," she continued, "and there are players here that we have not yet met face-to-face. This game is not over yet."

Sabrina gathered her skirts up and swept imperiously from the small room where Gary had been sequestered, still bound despite his injuries.

"Do you think she's right?" Jessie asked for a moment, touching James' arm, which was still around her waist, desperate for reassurance.

"I hope to God she is," James replied. Suddenly, he was pulling Jessie away, to the offices where Team Thunderbolt had set up their living quarters. He did not know what tomorrow might bring, but tonight… tonight he wanted to remind Jessie that she was still alive and that, as he had said, where there is life, there is hope.

***

"Ash, I… you mustn't give up." Misty was kneeling beside Ash. Sometime in the last few minutes, all nine Legendary Birds had appeared from nowhere and were forming an impressive cordon around the Guardian and the Healer. Neither of them was aware of such externals, however. They were only aware of each other and the terrible precipice where they stood.

"I… don't think I'm giving up," Ash said, his voice sounding supernaturally calm. "I think I'm taking a positive step forward, just as you suggested yesterday."

Misty shook her head. "No you aren't," she said. "You're giving up." She sighed and covered her face for a moment, feeling her despair and Ash's pain with all her heart and not entirely sure what she should say or do. "Don't you understand that _this_ was Giovanni's goal? To break you; to make you give up and destroy yourself one way or another." She reached forward and grasped Ash's hand. Ash looked at her hand for a long moment before returning her grip. "Ash, if you die or go mad, then he's won. Without you, there will be no one who can stop him. No one who will be his equal and who can beat him the way you could… the way you _will_."

"I want to believe you," Ash said after a long silence. "But Misty…" he sighed. "I'm afraid of what he has unleashed inside me."

Misty looked down for a moment. "Ash, do you want to hurt me?"

There was another long pause. Misty watched with amazement and a growing sense of hope the incredible twists and turns of her lover's expression: Pain, anguish, shame and _love_. "No," Ash replied, his voice urgent and honest. He grabbed both of Misty's hands in his and held them to his heart. "God no, Misty. I don't want you hurt ever! When I realised I'd hit you earlier… it was like ripping my own heart out! I wanted to die there and then for doing that!"

Misty laughed. "It didn't hurt that much," she said reassuringly. "Ash, I love you, and I know that I couldn't live without you." She drew in a deep breath. This was the critical moment, she could sense that easily. "Would you do to me what your father did to your mother?"

Ash's face paled as he remembered the story. His father beating his pregnant mother, causing her to miscarry Ash's unborn sister. Then, unleashing his Charmeleon and ordering it to burn his wife and his brother… "I would die first," Ash said, meaning it with all his heart. "I love you too, Misty. Hurting you like that would destroy my soul."

Misty nodded gently. "Your father is the most cruel and hateful of creatures," she said. "Would you become anything like that? Would you feed off of pain and suffering the way he does?" Ash looked pale. He shook his head almost spasmodically in denial of such a path. "Then don't focus on your pain, Ash," Misty said gently. "You are as human as anyone else, so you are going to have to live with the darkness inside of you, just as we all do. I am sure that what happened to your father was that he focussed on that darkness too clearly until he couldn't see anything else and it consumed him. So long as you focus on the good things that you love and treasure, the things that you want to protect, then you will never, ever become selfish and evil. You must believe me, my love."

"I do," Ash said. "But Misty… It is _very_ dark, and I'm frightened."

Misty squeezed Ash's hands tighter. "Then let your friends help you, Ash. You aren't alone. You are never alone. I will help you whenever it becomes too hard to bear. You only have to ask." 

Ash sucked in a deep breath and felt an incredible awe at the scale of love and commitment Misty was offering him. "As long as you are here, I can endure," Ash finally admitted. "I will never hurt you, Misty. I will carry on, and I will _win_, because of you."

Misty laughed. "Ash, you will win because you are _strong_," she contradicted. "As for me, I think my job is to remind you why you _want_ to win." She leaned forward and Ash met her half way. The two young people hugged. Misty drew strength from Ash's determination and courage, while Ash drew comfort from Misty's empathy and goodness. They wept in grief and joy at how their lives had turned out and those tears mixed where their cheeks were pressed together.

After a long moment, Misty sat back. "Don't you think you should reassure Raichu?" she asked.

Ash flushed and released his electric squirrel. Raichu materialised next to his two friends. He looked around in surprise and then scowled at his Trainer. [Never do that to me again, Ash,] Raichu said, more concerned than angry.

"I'm sorry, pal, I really am," Ash said in genuine repentance. "I got a bit screwed up back there, but I'm going to be okay now. I'm sure of it."

Raichu walked forward uncertainly until he was standing right in front of Ash. He looked up into his friend's eyes for a long moment before nodding in satisfaction. [The pain is still there, but it is less powerful now,] he announced.

"I don't think it will ever go away," Ash replied. "But it is easier to handle… thanks to my friends and… thanks to you, Misty." Ash took Misty's hand and kissed it gently.

Misty flushed and reached behind her to pull a Pokéball off of her belt. "Come on," she said, "let's get back before the others start to worry." She released Togetic.

[Are you okay, Mommy? Daddy?] the little Psychic-type chirped in concern as he materialised.

"Yes, we are now," Misty said. "Togetic, Teleport us to the Gang Hut, if you please." Togetic didn't understand where Misty meant by that, but he drew the image of the Team's new base from her mind, giving him a destination. There was a blue white flash and the two humans and two Pokémon were gone.

__

Without any thanks to us, I see, Moltres snorted.

__

It was not our place to interfere with this moment, Lugia said firmly. _The greatest darkness has come and gone I think Brothers and Sisters. Perhaps we may now dare hope_.

__

The darkest day is yet to come, Vercinimous Wing said thoughtfully. _It is a thing of the far future. I wonder how they will endure that trial_.

__

That, God of the Shadows, is a matter for the future, Articuno said. _For now, we should concern ourselves only with the present_.

***

"Okay, on your feet!" the Black Rocket snarled as he stepped into the bare cell. Delilah, kneeling beside a semi-conscious Sam Oak, stared defiantly at the thug-cum-prison guard. Joy stood up and moved between the two older people and the door in an unconsciously protective posture. "I said, _on your feet_!" the guard continued. "For whatever reason, you three pieces of shit have a VIP visitor!"

Delilah felt a primitive kind of curiosity as she helped Sam sit up. There was a shuffle at the door and four armed guards walked in and levelled sub-machineguns at them. _Well, this is unexpected, _Delilah thought. _This isn't the execution I thought Joe was arranging…_

Suddenly, the cell door opened wide and a white-haired man walked in, wearing the stone-brown coloured uniform of a member of Team Rocket's inner council. The man looked around at the three prisoners with a piercingly intelligent look in his grey eyes. His stare slid off Joy, dismissing her as simply one of the Boss's son's foot soldiers. His eyes locked onto Delilah and Sam and lit up with anger. "Well, well," hissed Mondo Jones Senior, Giovanni's chief aide and lieutenant. "I never expected that I would see this day!" He began to laugh. There was no cruelty in that laugh, but there _was_ an unhealthy shrill edge to it. "I never thought that you two would _ever_ pay the price for what you did to Giovanni!"

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Delilah said, putting a bored tone in her voice. She didn't care about her ex-husband's lickspittles and their desire to amuse themselves with their prize prisoners.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten me already?" Mondo asked with a slightly wild grin.

"I don't believe it…" Sam muttered in a thick, concussed tone of voice. "Charlie? Charlie Mason?"

"That isn't my name," Mondo snapped.

Delilah's mouth dropped open the moment Sam spoke, and suddenly the years went spiralling back. It was the first time she ever met Joseph Oak. He was walking down the street with an elegant woman with long, red-purple hair and a smaller man with black hair cut militarily short. This man standing before her might be two decades older and his hair may have gone prematurely white, but it was indeed that man she saw walking with Joe. "Charlie!" she gasped. "How… how are you still alive? I thought that Joe killed all the original members of Team Rocket!"

Mondo snapped his head around to stare at the Boss's treacherous mate. "They _did_ all die," he snarled. "For their betrayal and their weakness, they all died! Charles Mason was among them!"

"Charlie, what are you talking about?" Delilah asked, dumbfounded. "I remember you! You were always with Joe! You were his closest friend; you two shared everything together! I remember you and him arguing in a friendly way as to who got to date me first…"

"CHARLES MASON IS DEAD!" Mondo screamed, making Delilah and Joy jump in surprise. "And you two will be as well, soon." He sucked in a deep breath. "And when you, the last reminders of those bad days, are gone, maybe Giovanni will be able to unlock his heart and become the great and loving leader I know he truly is…"

Sam tried to focus his eyes on his brother's best friend. "Charlie," he said, "what madness has my brother infected you with?"

Mondo, having lost all semblance of calm, almost ran over to Sam. He grabbed the researcher by the lapels of his shirt and stared into his eyes. "I am not the one who is _mad_," he hissed. After a long moment, he backed off and stood by the door again, trying to regain control of his emotions. After a long moment he laughed once, a bitter, hateful sound. "I don't even know why I came here," he said at last, running a hand through his close-cropped white hair. "I suppose… I suppose I had to know why you did it."

"Why did we do what?" Sam asked stupidly.

"Why did you betray him?" Mondo asked. "You are his _brother_, Sam. Delilah… he… he… he _loved_ you! More than anything he had ever loved before! More than his own _life_! And you two turned on him like rabid Growliths and destroyed his heart!"

Delilah was outraged. "Charlie, you have some really selective memories of what happened," she said. "Do you forget that he tried to _kill_ me while I was pregnant with his children? Do you forget what he did to poor Miyamoto? She bore him a _daughter_, remember? Miya was more loyal to Team Rocket and to Joe than that… _filth_ ever deserved and what did she get in return, huh? Rape and a slit throat in some filthy Viridian City gutter!"

"_She betrayed him!_" Mondo insisted with a hiss. "Giovanni had no choice, no matter how much he regretted it! Don't you get it? You all made him _vulnerable_ at a time when he had to be strong! You should have died rather than letting that happen. You should have _wanted _to die! Instead you resisted him… forced him to try and take your lives. You betrayed his trust and you plotted to destroy him!"

"He's a psychotic," Delilah said darkly. "Of course we did. We had a responsibility to stop him. Charlie, you have been one of the Team since the very beginning, before there was even the name 'Team Rocket.' You must know how Joe has become twisted and hateful…"

"Shut up… _shut up_… SHUT UP!" Mondo shouted, covering his ears. "Shut up you fucking _whore_! He is a _great_ man, the only hope for the world! You two… _insects_ have _no_ right to question his methods and you _certainly_ have no right to infect his own _son_ with your treason and turn him loose against him! Do you understand how much you have hurt him? Do you?"

"Charlie, you should stop projecting on my brother emotions that he is simply not capable of feeling any more," Sam said, his voice sounding very focussed and clear-headed suddenly. "My brother cannot feel hurt, and he certainly feels no regret over his murdering Miyamoto and the rest of the Team. If he feels anything about Ash, it is a childish resentment that anyone dares to interfere with his sadistic little dominance fantasies…"

Mondo slapped Sam in the face. "SHUT UP!" he howled. After a moment, Mondo calmed down enough to continue. "Well, it doesn't matter," he said. "Ash will soon either be at Giovanni's side or dead. One way or another, this is over now."

"I don't think so," Delilah said, stepping towards the senior Rocket. Her certainty shook Mondo, who stepped back as if she were scalding hot or carrying some infectious disease. "Charlie, listen to me. You love Joe very much, I know that, but you _must_ see that he has gone mad. You were _always_ his most loyal follower, his most beloved friend. Don't you understand that you have the responsibility to stop him? He will listen to you if you tell him. You can still save him and if not…" Delilah sighed. "Charlie, you know his moves better than anyone alive," she continued, touching the trembling man on the arm. "Apart from Ash, you are probably the only person in the whole world who could beat him in a fight. That is your duty as the last surviving _true_ member of Team Rocket."

"I know," Mondo said. Delilah let herself feel a moment of hope before he continued. "That is why Charlie Mason had to die; he was an intolerable security risk. My name is now _Mondo Jones_, and I will never betray my Master." Mondo seemed exhausted. He turned away and was about to walk out. Suddenly, he turned back to the prisoners. "Giovanni is the world's destiny," he said. "I have come to terms with that fact. You should too, before the end. You will meet Charlie and the rest of the Team soon enough, I think."

Mondo left and the guards trooped out after him. After the cell door slammed closed, Delilah sat down next to Sam again and began to cry. Sam and Joy tried to comfort her, but that was very hard right now.

***

Misty was having a bad dream. Lying next to her in their hastily constructed double camp bed, Ash unconsciously sensed her distress and turned over, wrapping an arm around her and hugging her tightly to his chest. His legs curled along hers, stroking the outside of her shins with his feet. Misty leaned back against her lover's chest and a sleepy relaxed smile spread across her lips. She slid an arm along the back of the arm holding her and she drifted into a deeper and far more restful sleep state.

__

They love each other so much, Joy sent to Mewtwo in amazement. _I've never seen two such young people who are already bound together in such a way!_

It was a match made in the heavens, Mewtwo replied, _and also in the unknowable mathematics that determines the genetic makeup of every newly conceived child. Perhaps the Maker's hand directed this more completely than I imagined. He is… rightly notorious for his ultra-long-term planning and the subtle ways he works out His purposes._

The Watcher and his mate watched the Guardian and the Healer sleep, content in each other's company for a few more minutes. _Mewtwo, why are we here?_ Joy said.

__

The Betrayer will never break, Mewtwo explained. _His will is too strong and the hatred in his heart too all-consuming for him ever to offer willingly any aid to his enemies. At least… _Mewtwo paused and continued in a darker tone, _he will not break in the time allotted to the Chosen Ones to rescue those imperilled by the Dark One's plots. In any case, it is unlikely that either of their souls could survive the methods necessary to extract the information._ Mewtwo turned back to Joy and smirked slightly. _So we are here to engage in a carefully limited intervention._

Mewtwo raised a hand and gestured at the far side of the room. There was a blue-white glow and a bandaged figure materialised on a desk left in the former office space. Gary Oak was bound, but was sleeping normally despite the massive injuries Ash's assault had inflicted. Joy gasped and covered her mouth. _The Chosen One certainly demonstrated his anger at Gary Oak's behaviour_, she sent, horror colouring her mental tone.

__

Those wounds do not even begin to justly punish him for his sins, Mewtwo said. _I wish that it was my place to punish this shallow, hateful soul, but this is one of the tasks that my agreement forbids me from undertaking._ Mewtwo raised his other hand and directed it at Ash and Misty. _He shields his thoughts well, indeed he is too afraid of the Dark One to even _think_ of the information that the Chosen Ones require. However, in sleep, the gates of the mind are locked only weakly and, with the right methods, even the most hidden truth can be exposed._

Joy stepped back with a nervous shiver as Mewtwo glared at Gary and his eyes began to glow brightly. As Joy watched, a deep aqua-blue glow began to shine around Gary's head. The glow turned into a trail of sparkles that drifted across the room onto the palm of Mewtwo's right hand. _Dream-eater_, Joy realised. Mewtwo turned to where Ash and Misty were sleeping. His left hand began to glow. Joy recognised the Hallucinate attack at once. 

She suddenly realised the incredible scale of her Lover's plan and felt only admiration for him. By its' nature, Dream-eater drew on the deepest images in a mind, sucking away at the very fundamental aspect of the soul of its' victims. It also could reveal images that the conscious mind had buried deeply within the corridors of memory. Mewtwo was sorting through the images presented him as he tore at Gary's fundamental essence, and then using Nightmare to present the relevant information to Ash and Misty. _That is incredible!_ Joy thought to herself…

DISCONTINUITY 

Pallet Town was aflame. Ash and Misty were somehow in the position of an observer, although the eyes through which they saw this tragedy anew were not their own, nor the body theirs to command.

As they watched, three chained prisoners were being dragged past. They felt horror and helpless fury at the battered condition of Professor Oak. Ash longed to shout a reassurance to his terrified mother and to Joy, who looked furious and petrified with fear at the same instant. "Damn you Gary," Delilah hissed. "Why the hell are you doing this?"

__

Simple, the body that Ash and Misty were riding replied. _I want to be on the winning side, Mrs. Ketchum. Now you be sure to enjoy visiting your Ex, you hear?_ There was a sadistic chuckle and the three prisoners were dragged away from the Betrayer's sight. The body turned to two young Team Rocket White Team agents. The woman was short, young and had long black hair. The man was taller and had close-cropped blond hair. Gary's mind suddenly identified the two agents:_ Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barlow_, it supplied. _So_, Gary said aloud, _what's next for you two after this little triumph?_

"The Boss doesn't see anything special in doing your job properly," Bonnie said with a grunt. "We'll be back to our usual field sector just north of Vermilion City."

__

Well, that's too bad. I thought he would at least give you a week off.

"You really don't know The Boss, do you, Agent Oak?" Clyde said with a laugh. "He doesn't believe in vacations."

"Or in rewarding success," Bonnie agreed. "That is what he _expects_, not what he rewards."

__

Team Rocket sounds like such a nice organisation, Gary said sarcastically.

"Tell me about it," Bonnie said, reaching into one of the pockets of her jump suit. "Oh, the Boss said I should give you this. It will help our other agents identify you, if that is necessary."

__

I certainly hope not, Gary thought in some discomfort. He didn't like being permanently identified as part of Team Rocket, but, deep down, he realised that he was Giovanni's creature now, body and soul. Gary looked down at the blood red 'R' pendant on a brass chain. After a moment, he placed it around his neck and tucked it under his shirt next to the 'Yin/Yang' medallion that was a gift from his sister May for his eighth birthday. _I wonder if she made it out?_ Gary thought idly as he looked around at the devastation. _Ha! As if I care! What has she ever done for me? Hell, she even had a crush on Ash when he was still a kid!_

The mind of Ash Ketchum, who was observing these events as a helpless bystander, felt a bit of embarrassment at that recollection. The mind of Misty Waterflower felt only amusement.

__

I wonder if I will be able to live with this, Gary thought as he looked around him once more. _If not… well, I've got Dad's old revolver in my apartment at the Gym… Nah, I'm not the sort to go in for that sort of thing. I'll get over it. The money will help too…_

Gary turned around as the blimp with the gas cell shaped like a Meowth's head lifted off with a roar of ducted fans. As it rose off the ground, he saw the registration code '550' painted on the side of the gas cell…

DISCONTINUITY 

Ash awoke with a start and a gasp. "Gary!" he shouted, jerking into a sitting position. "_Bastard!_"

Misty was awake too and she snapped into a sitting position so quickly that she banged her head on Ash's chin. "Ow!" she cried in surprise.

"Crap!" Ash shouted in pain. "Jeez, are you okay, Misty?"

"Yes!" Misty said, rubbing the top of her head. "No! Ash, it happened again! I had a dream about the fall of Pallet Town! I know who the two agents who took Delilah, the Professor and Joy were! I know where they are posted!"

"So do I!" Ash said in amazement. "But… how?" He shook his head. His mother had always warned him about wasting time on imponderables. If you spent your whole life worrying how Magnemites floated or how Magmars didn't incinerate themselves alive, you would get nothing done. "We can figure it out later," he said. "Right now, we've got a pair of Rockets to catch!"

Misty was already up and out of bed. She paused only to pull on a dressing gown to cover her modesty before she started running along the corridor, banging hard on the doors to rouse the rest of Team Thunderbolt.

***

Clyde Barlow leaned back in the pilot's seat of Team Rocket Blimp, registry number 550, and watched the Vermilion Forest roll underneath them. It was the beginning of another long and tiring day in the field. After the brief excitement of taking those prisoners from Pallet Town, it had been back to the routine grind for him and his partner, Bonnie Parker.

"So, any sign of anything?" Bonnie asked, walking over from where she had been checking the Blimp's weapons locker.

"Nothing," Clyde said. "This part of the world has so few travelling novices, it is almost not worth our being here! I wish we were in Viridian! There is no end of things to steal there!"

"Yeah, it is also where Team Thunderbolt do most of their work," Bonnie replied. "Do you really want to run into them?"

"Ah, they're finished after what the Team did to Pallet Town," Clyde said dismissively. "I tell you, Bonnie, they are not going to trouble Team Rocket again!"

Bonnie smiled and nodded as she sank into the co-pilot's seat. However, neither White Rocket had forgotten the terror of Team Thunderbolts' attack on Viridian Base almost seven months ago. They had been there and had only escaped because Ketchum didn't see them as important enough to pursue. It had taken them a long time to shake off the certainty that he would hunt them down.

Clyde jumped as an alarm went off on his console. "What the hell?" he asked. 

"What is it?" Bonnie asked.

"The proximity alarm on the motion detectors has just gone off," Clyde explained, "but the radar and infrared are blank!" He shook his head. "Maybe it's a malfunction."

"Maybe not," Bonnie said, her hands dancing over the controls as she armed the blimp's minigun turrets, its' rocket launchers and its racks of AIM-97D Stinger AAMs. "Maybe someone's using a Pokémon to attack us…"

There was suddenly the most terrifying tearing sound either agent had ever heard. There was another shrieking alarm. "The main gas cell has been ruptured!" Bonnie shouted. "We're losing lift!" As the two agents looked on, they saw an Aerodactyl suddenly shoot overhead with a brown-haired man riding on its' back. 

"Get the bastard, Bonnie," Clyde shouted. Bonnie was already targeting the forward cannon turret on the fleeing Rock/Flying type when a massive lightning bolt slammed into the turret from somewhere to the left, causing its' ammunition to explode. The car's forward windows shattered into a thousand cubes of safety glass and the front of the gas cell was torn completely off. There was a hiss of electricity and the stench of ozone as another lightning bolt struck the car, blowing out every electrical system in a fountain of yellow sparks.

Bonnie screamed in utter horror as the blimp suddenly nose-dived right into the thick forest below…

…

Bonnie groaned and lifted her head. She felt wetness on her face and touched her forehead. She winced as she touched the deep gash that was bleeding freely down her face.

The safety belts and the crash airbags had saved their lives; she realised this as she looked around the shattered and burning piloting cabin. Operating on trained instinct, she unbuckled her safety belts, grabbed the concussed and delirious Clyde and began to drag him out of the dying aircraft. Its' fuel supply could go up in flames at any moment, and she had no desire to have such a fiery end while still so young.

Bonnie dragged Clyde out of the smouldering blimp. She barely noticed that the gas cell had settled over it like a shroud. Nor did she notice the Aerodactyl, the Dragonite, the Charizard and the Fearaven standing in a semi-circle behind her.

Someone cleared his throat. "Are you Bonnie Parker?" asked a good-natured male voice.

"Who… who's asking?" she asked, whirling to face the speaker. She was eye-to-eye with Ash Ketchum, looking up into the face of the person who destroyed her home base seven months ago. Facing the most feared enemy of Team Rocket, and a person who had a very good reason to hate anyone wearing the sigil right now… "No!" she shouted, going for a Pokéball.

"Raichu…" There was a sudden blue-white flash, an agony in all her limbs and then Bonnie Parker was aware of nothing else.

***

Bonnie opened her eyes and peered dimly around her. She had no idea where she was or how she got there. She tried to concentrate and think hard, but she couldn't focus her thoughts enough to determine where she was, nor could she clearly remember the events that occurred in her most recent past.

"H… hello?" she said uncertainly. She and a stunned and bandaged Clyde were sitting at one side of a rectangular table. Two empty chairs sat opposite them and a single powerful spotlight shone down from above.

"So you choose to rejoin us in the land of the living, Agent Parker," a firm male voice said. "It is about time."

"What happened?" Bonnie asked, peering about blindly. The room was pitch black outside the circle of light thrown by the overhead spotlight, and Bonnie couldn't see the person who was speaking.

"You two had an 'accident,'" a sneering feminine voice replied. "You crashed your blimp into a stand of trees. It is a good thing your distress beacon went off automatically, or you would have died there. Which would have been ironic, considering that it was your own incompetence that caused the incident!"

"No, that isn't true," Clyde said uncertainly. "We were on patrol when… when we… I… I'm sure that it wasn't our fault…" Clyde's voice trailed off. Try as he might, he couldn't remember the crash or the events that led up to it.

"Not your fault?" the male voice scoffed. "You flew the blimp right into a stand of trees! Are you blind?"

"I… I don't remember…" Clyde said uncertainly.

"That is irrelevant now anyway," the female voice said. "We are here to debrief you regarding the transport of prisoners from Pallet Town."

"I… we've already been debriefed on that mission," Clyde said. "Peter and MJ did that at Vermilion Tower Base."

Suddenly a figure emerged partly into the light. He was wearing a red Elite Rocket uniform. Although his face was still in shadows, he almost oozed menace, the way the Red Rockets tended to. To his left stood a woman, also in an Elite Rocket uniform. She replied in a voice that dripped with sarcasm and condescension. "The Boss has ordered us to debrief you _again_," she said. "Do you have any objections to that for us to relay to him?"

"NO!" Clyde nearly shouted, his face pale and sweaty. God, no, he didn't want them to tell The Boss that they were insubordinate and refused to obey orders. Bonnie was shaking her head in an equally strident denial.

"Good," the man sneered. "Now, start from the pick-up of the cargo."

"We arrived at Pallet Town at 0610 hours, as briefed," Bonnie began, eager to please her superiors. "Our agent on the site, Gary Shigeru Oak, was waiting for us with a squad of Dan'in, who had already secured three out of the four prisoners. I understood from Agent Oak's comments that the fourth prisoner had been killed while resisting our forces. Anyway…"

In the shadows, Ash Ketchum leaned back against the wall of the warehouse area and watched Jessie and James, terrifying in Elite Rocket uniforms, 'debriefed' the two captured White Rockets. In the shadows, invisible to the light-blinded Rockets, Ash's Alakazam, Misty's Exeggutor, Sabrina's Mew and Richie's Kadabra were pumping out Confusion, keeping the two prisoners confused and disoriented, unable to think clearly enough to question why this was happening or from remembering their capture by Team Thunderbolt. Simultaneously, Jessie's Wobbuffet and James' Ghastly were shielding their Trainers from the same psychic attack.

__

Well, Sabrina, Ash asked. _Are they telling the truth so far?_

Sabrina smiled darkly in the shadows. _They are too confused and afraid to think to lie,_ she replied. _They are telling Jessie and James the complete and unadulterated truth. They do not even suspect any kind of duplicity._

Ash smiled. _Excellent_, he thought. 

"So, you arrived at the designated delivery point, which was…" Jessie left the sentence unanswered.

"Vermilion Tower Base," Bonnie said eagerly. "It is a former hotel in Vermilion City that the organisation converted into a security and research facility. All three prisoners were delivered safely and without complications."

"And that was the prisoners' final destination," James said, carefully disguising his question as a statement.

"We weren't briefed," Bonnie said. "Was it?"

"You don't have a need to know," Jessie said, disguising her disappointment well. She looked slightly towards Ash and Sabrina.

__

They are telling the truth, Jessica, Sabrina told her. 

Jessie nodded. "Thank you for your co-operation, Agents Parker and Barlow," Jessie continued. "We'll leave you to recuperate from your injuries."

"Xatu, Hypnosis," Misty said. Misty's elegant condor-like Psychic/Flying-type emitted a shining wave of light that consumed the two Rockets and left them sleeping like babies. "Okay, Richie!" The main lights in the warehouse snapped on, leaving the six (conscious) people within blinking for a moment. "Well, it wasn't a complete loss," Misty said, trying to sound optimistic.

"I agree," Ash said. "We have a starting point for our search. But we have so little time left to find them… just ten days now…" He shook his head to clear his mind from the black despair that threatened to overwhelm him. "We need to reconnoitre the base they named and determine if the three prisoners are still there."

"We'll go," James said immediately.

Ash stared at the dark haired man in surprise. "James…" he began and shook his head. "Forget it, James. You and Jessie are on my father's most wanted list. He will have circulated your descriptions, your fingerprints, and even your DNA profile to every base. You go in there and you will be dodging exposure and execution at every turn. I'll ask Duplicia…"

"Ash," Jessie said, "Duplicia is a fine mimic, but she doesn't know Team Rocket like we do. She would have to play it by ear, while James and I can fit right in." Ash was going to protest again, but he saw the determination in the two former Rockets' eyes. "Ash, I want to do this," Jessie said. "Your mother always treated us fairly, even when we were enemies. We owe her this."

"Okay," Ash said reluctantly. "Okay, you win, Jessie. You and James get a disguise together, something nice and subtle like a pair of Dan'in or technicians. Remember, we need to know where the hostages are and the internal lay out of the base."

"Do we have to go to so much trouble, Ash?" Richie asked. "I mean, why not just hit the place here and now. It has worked before!"

"Before, we weren't trying to rescue people who are at risk of immediate execution if we don't get to them quickly," Ash reminded the other Trainer. "This is going to be much harder, Richie, and it will take a lot more planning to win it."

***

Ash was sitting in the ruins of the living room of his home, pouring over a set of notes he had assembled. He had figured out five possible attack scenarios and he was trying to figure out which of these would give the Thunderbolts the best chance to get to the hostages before the Rockets realised what was happening and tried to execute them.

The only problem with these plans is that he had absolutely no idea about what was hiding within the base. He didn't know its' internal layout, what defences awaited him, or even where his mother, the Professor and Joy were being kept. It was frustrating to say the least. He growled and flung his pencil across the room, adding a little to the devastation, and hunched over, glowering.

"Ash?" Misty called from the front door. She walked in. "What are you doing?"

"Thinking," Ash said, gesturing to his notes. "Unfortunately, I'm not doing very well."

Misty looked at the notes carelessly and then, to Ash's horror, she crumpled them up into a ball and threw them out of the broken bay windows. "Misty!" Ash shouted. "What the hell…?"

"Ash, those notes are worthless and you know it," she said. "We won't know anything until we get a report about what is in that building."

"Misty!" Ash nearly shouted. He walked over and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Look, I've got to come up with a plan! We can't just charge in there blindly!"

"I know," Misty said calmly. "Unfortunately, we don't know what is inside the Rocket base, so your plans are nothing more than fantasy." Ash looked shocked at Misty's candour. "Look, Ash, right now all you are doing is wearing yourself out worrying about things you can't affect right now. Obsessing like this on your problems will only make it that harder to resist the dark." Ash did his 'landed Magikarp' impression for a few seconds. "You will make a plan when you know _what_ to plan for," Misty continued. "Right now, there is no use worrying about it."

Ash sighed and dragged a hand through his untidy black hair. "I know, Misty," he said at last. "But I can't just sit around doing _nothing_."

"Of course not," Misty said, touching his face affectionately. "So do something. Help me put this place back together." Ash looked at Misty stupidly, making her sigh in a long-suffering way. "Let's start repairing the damage done to your home," Misty said, even more gently than before. "Let's begin to rebuild so that, _when_ your Mother returns, she has a home waiting for her."

Misty stepped to once side to let Togetic and Psyduck in. The two Psychic-types were telekinetically towing boxes of tools. Outside, Misty's Rapidash stood yoked to a cart carrying a selection of building materials. "Where did you get that stuff from?" Ash asked. He couldn't think of any more sensible a query than that.

"From the Town Square," Misty replied. "The UNGC has people handing out materials to everyone so they can start rebuilding. I would prefer you to be thinking about that than thinking about what acts of destruction you might have to commit."

Ash looked at Misty for a long moment before a slow smile crossed his face. "Thanks, Mist," he said. "I _was_ getting a bit obsessive wasn't I? Come on, let's try and figure out how to fix this mess."

About two hours later, Ash was surprised when two White Rockets visited him. The brown-eyed man had blonde hair in a ponytail and a droopy moustache and the green-eyed woman had shoulder-length black hair. He barely recognised the two people before him. "Jessie and James?" he blurted. "Jeez, you two are nearly new people!"

"Courtesy of Duplicia's box of miracles," James said with a laugh. 

"From now on, we're 'Kim and Andrew,'" Jessie added. "We just stopped bye to say 'see you soon.'"

"Look after Meowth for us," James added with a grin. "He's too distinctive to risk taking along with us."

"If anyone sees through those disguises, I'll eat my own boots," Ash said. "You've picked a hard job, guys, but I know you're up to it."

"We'll find where those monsters are hiding your mother, Ash," Jessie said reassuringly. "We are going to win this one. I'm sure of it."

"I am sure too," Ash said, putting all the certainty he could into his voice. "May Mew watch over you, my friends."

Ash watched as Jessie and James left. Jessie released her Fearaven and they climbed onto her back. The earth/flying-type rose into the air and flew away.

Before turning back to working on repairing the damage to the living room furnishing, Ash took a moment to look around Pallet Town. The air was clear this bright winter morning and Ash could hear the continual rattle of building tools all around him. There were cheerful calls from hard-working neighbours and, as he watched, a group of children ran down the battered street with a pair of Ponytas, who were towing cartloads of relief food packages. A woman was walking along with them, carrying some flowers she had picked from a garden or from some green area.

Yes, Pallet Town was coming back to life. With the rebuilding came an affirmation of life and hope. And while hope, that most indomitable of human qualities endured, Ash's mad father would never know a victory. That hope, as pernicious and quick-to-return as the weeds sprouting up from between the broken concrete slabs, was what made Ash _know_ that, ultimately, Team Rocket would be defeated, by one agency or another.

As Ash turned to help Misty in re-plastering the battered walls, he realised that hope was the most precious gift of them all. So long as he had hope, then he could endure any setback and any defeat. He would endure to vindicate hope and that hope would lead him to victory.

****

The End

of

****

Team Rocket Strikes Back

but the saga of Avenger will continue in the third book of this astounding trilogy:

****

Avenger – Book 3: The Return of the Heroes

Coming to a library server near you soon!


End file.
